Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi reflected on his team’s hard-fought 3-2 victory over Cape Verde in the Round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup. Notably, Messi himself scored one of the goals in the encounter.
“Honestly, we knew in advance that this match would be extremely tough. It’s no coincidence that this team hadn’t lost to Spain or Uruguay,” Messi said.
“We managed to do the hardest part — score the opening goal — and we thought that would allow us to impose our style of play and operate more calmly, but the opposite happened.
At times, we lost possession, dropped back a bit, and failed to apply the necessary pressure on our opponents, who took advantage and scored. We knew the challenge would be difficult.
These are knockout games, and nothing is given away easily. Some might underestimate teams because of their big names, but we understood this match would be far from easy. That’s what makes this World Cup special: everything is decided by small details, and every game is incredibly challenging.
As always, we gave our all, whether we played well or didn’t show our best level. Now, the most important thing is to rest, think about the next match, and try to take positive lessons from today’s game,” Messi concluded after the final whistle.
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