GistBiz Times

Lionel Messi versus Vozinha. It is the World Cup battle no-one knew they wanted, but which fans now cannot wait to see. Argentina and Cape Verde walk out at the Miami Stadium on Friday (23:00 BST). Arguably the greatest player the world has seen faces a 40-year-old goalkeeper who was a complete unknown three weeks ago. It encapsulates one of the best stories of this World Cup - Cape Verde, on their World Cup debut, defying the odds to reach the knockout rounds.

No-one gave Cape Verde a prayer against European champions Spain. Yet they drew 0-0. It was heralded as one of the greatest ever World Cup shocks, and the African nation did not even win.

Then came draws against two-time World Cup winners Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, to qualify for the last 32 in second place in the group. Next come Argentina. It could be the biggest mismatch the World Cup has ever seen.

Three-time World Cup winners v debutants

One of the most-storied national teams - and the current world champions - face opponents who only first qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013. Cape Verde was a colony of Portugal when Argentina took part in the first World Cup in 1930, finishing runners-up to Uruguay. La Albiceleste, as Argentina are nicknamed, have only failed to qualify for one World Cup, in Mexico in 1970, though they withdrew from three tournaments either side of World War Two, in 1938, 1950 and 1954.

Argentina's first World Cup success came in 1978, beating the Netherlands 3-1 in the final. In 1986, a 3-2 victory over West Germany took the trophy back to South America. A third World Cup trophy was secured in Qatar four years ago, with France beaten on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Argentina have enjoyed extensive continental success, too, winning the Copa America a record 16 times - including the past two tournaments.

They have not been out of the top three of the Fifa world ranking since March 2022, and spent two years in the number one spot before being dethroned by France last year. The Cape Verdean Football Federation was only formed in 1982, and accepted as a Fifa member in 1986 - just as Argentina were winning the World Cup for a second time. The Blue Sharks first entered World Cup qualifying in 2002 but did not have a realistic chance of qualifying until 2022. Four years ago they only just lost out to Nigeria, drawing the final group game 1-1 in Lagos when a win would have sent them to Qatar.

For the 2026 finals, despite being drawn in a group with eight-time qualifiers Cameroon, Cape Verde finished top with one defeat in 10 matches. Such has been their recent development they only played at their first Africa Cup of Nations 13 years ago, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Ghana. They have now played at the Afcon four times, reaching the last eight again in 2023.

But they failed to reach the 2025 Afcon, despite qualifying for the World Cup. Cape Verde reached the Fifa top 100 in 2006, and climbed to 36th on the back of the first Afcon outing. In 2014, after qualifying for the 2015 tournament, they achieved their highest-ever ranking of 27th. For the last nine years, Cape Verde have hovered around the 60-80 bracket, and will go into Friday's game ranked 64th. Five Argentina players