As the final whistle blew and Argentina’s players celebrated their dramatic 3-2 victory, one of the most emotional moments of the 2026 FIFA World Cup unfolded on the other side of the pitch.Cape Verde forward Nuno Da Costa stood in tears, surrounded by his equally emotional family members. Yet amid his own heartbreak after his country’s historic World Cup run came to an end, Da Costa was seen being comforted by his young son, who was also crying.Watch:The scene perfectly encapsulated Cape Verde’s extraordinary journey. The tiny island nation of just over 500,000 people pushed defending champions Argentina to the brink in a thrilling Round of 32 clash before eventually falling 3-2 after extra time.Lionel Messi, who scored his record-extending 20th World Cup goal, admitted Argentina had been forced to dig deep to survive.“As this team has demonstrated many times, and as I’ve said many times, it competes,” Messi said in Spanish. “And we competed to the end.”Few gave Cape Verde a chance heading into the tournament. Yet the World Cup debutants stunned the football world by becoming the smallest nation ever to reach the knockout stages, holding former champions Spain and Uruguay to draws before producing one of the matches of the tournament against Argentina.Cape Verde equalised twice, once in regulation time and again in extra time, and looked capable of producing one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history before an own goal ultimately ended their dream.“I have to give credit to our opponents,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “The truth is, when people say there’s no such thing as an easy opponent, today (Cape Verde) proved they’re a great team.”Goalkeeper Vozinha once again starred with a series of remarkable saves, while head coach Bubista hailed his players’ courage and identity.“We dignify what our country is. We drew twice against the world champions, we took it to extra time,” Bubista said. “More than anything, it’s being proud of our players who were dignified in the World Cup. We showed our identity.”Defender Pico Lopes echoed that sentiment.“We came so close, we pushed them right to the end,” he said. “But in the end, it wasn’t to be. Disappointed … but I think we showed great character today, a great quality to get back into the game twice. They’re the world champions for a reason.”As Cape Verde’s players remained on the pitch long after the final whistle, embracing each other through tears, Bubista summed up what his team had achieved.“We showed that we may be a small country,” he said, “but we can play against some of the best teams in the world.”
