Read 3 minutes4 Jul 2026 01:45 PM IST
After Argentina’s 3-2 win over Cape Verde in the World Cup round of 32 match, all applauded the African nation for putting on an incredible performance against the defending world champions and pushing them to the limit. French legend Thierry Henry praised the World Cup debutants after noting how the tiny nation exceeded every expectation in their first World Cup.
The Argentines needed a goal and an assist from Lionel Messi to advance in the tournament and prevent the biggest upset in World Cup history.
“You know what’s actually impressive? It’s not so much how it played and everything, what’s impressive, but the number of people who live there,” Henry said. Fox Sports‘ After the match show.
The Arsenal icon was highly appreciative of the Cape Verdean players and managers, impressed by their passion, courage and ever-present ‘never give up’ mentality.
Reflecting on the Cape Verdeans’ performance against the South American giants, Henry added, “How do you believe you can do it? That’s why I always say to people, it reminds me, I know it’s not the same competition, Iceland. And what Iceland did at one point, and I know it was the Euros (the first time they reached 206 vs. 2016). Dear England, but it reminds me, sorry, how many people you have. It doesn’t matter, if you believe you can achieve something, you can always do it.
“Let them know and let them know how you’re performing. Now everybody knows where Cabo Verde is. That’s the most important thing.”
Argentina experienced one of their toughest outings on the football pitch in recent memory, given that the Verdeans came back from trailing twice in what was previously thought to be a one-sided contest.
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After initially being drawn in the same group as Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, the nation’s hopes of winning a match here were almost non-existent. But after holding reigning European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw thanks to the heroics of their 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha and scoring his first World Cup goal in a 2-2 draw against Uruguay, the Verdeans qualified for the knockout stages against all odds.
Written by Madhav Sachdeva, intern at Online Sports Desk.