World Cup
2026-07-03 - Argentina vs Cape Verde
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: World Cup Last 32
Friday 3rd June 2026 - Kick Off 6pm (CST)
British Time 11pm
Argentina
The Group Stage draw proved to be very manageable for the defending World Champions, but Argentina have seen some of the rivals struggle and that has placed them in a positive part of the Knock Out Bracket. Many would have expected Portugal to be a threat lurking as the draw progressed, but Cristiano Ronaldo's team have not earned their expected spot in the Knock Out Bracket and that means Lionel Messi's team remain big favourites to reach the Final for a second consecutive World Cup Finals and third time in four editions of the tournament.
Wins over Algeria, Austria and Jordan and all in games where Argentina scored at least twice will have given this experienced squad a lot of belief as to what they can achieve in North America. Two years ago, Argentina won the Copa America hosted in the United States and so will remain comfortable in the conditions, while they would have expected to be facing Uruguay in the Last 32 and this feels like a much more manageable tie.
Argentina's win over Jordan in the final Group game means they have won 10 in a row in all competitions and this is a team that has a major threat in the final third, while also being defensively aware. It makes the defending World Champions a genuine contender to win it all again, although Argentina have yet to face an opponent that may truly believe they can beat them.
Cristian Romero is expected to be available for selection, while Lionel Scaloni made a few changes to his starting eleven in the win over Jordan and may restore key names.
Predicted Line Up: Emi Martinez, Molina, Medina, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Mac Allister, Fernandez, De Paul, Almada, Messi and Lautaro Martinez (4-4-2)
Cape Verde
At the start of the tournament, any team that were able to draw three Group games would have at least expected to reach the Last 32 of the 2026 World Cup as one of the best third place teams. It worked out very differently in reality, but Cape Verde have upset the odds by using three draws to Qualify for the Knock Out Rounds after finishing second in Group H ahead of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
This is a squad that showed tremendous resilience to fight back from 2-1 behind against Uruguay to earn a 2-2 draw in that fixture, while the goalless draw with Saudi Arabia proved to be enough for Cape Verde after Uruguay were beaten. However, the stand out result of the Group Stage is Cape Verde's goalless draw with European Champions Spain and that should give them a real belief ahead of taking on the World Champions in the Last 32.
Cape Verde arrived in North America with some hope of getting out of the Group Stage, but they have been an inspirational story all around and surpassed expectations of the 'experts'. The lack of goals will be a concern as we move into the Knock Out Rounds, but Cape Verde have shown plenty of grit and determination and that will always give a team a chance.
Telmo Arcanjo is a doubt for Cape Verde ahead of this tie in Miami.
Predicted Line Up: Vozinha, Moreira, Cabral, Pico Lopes, Borges, Pina, Duarte, Monteiro, Mendes, Rodriguez and Livramento (4-1-4-1)
Head to Head
This will be the first competitive meeting between these nations.
Prediction
The layers are all anticipating a pretty routine win for Argentina against upstarts Cape Verde in this Last 32 tie and that is making it very tough to find an appealing angle.
Pricing for the World Champions to win with a clean sheet are very short, while the likes of Lionel Messi have also been given a 1.50 kind of price to simply score.
Cape Verde have shown some real character to get out of the Group Stage, but they were thankful for some very strong goalkeeping in the draw with Spain and wasteful finishing from Uruguay. The team scored twice against Uruguay, but with a huge helping hand from the opposition goalkeeper, but it is the defensive shape that is likely going to be key towards any upset against the defending Champions.
That is not to say that Cape Verde have sat back, but they have perhaps lacked some experience in the final third and it has led to shots being taken from poor positions. Credit has to be given to a team that have had 6 shots against a possession dominant Spain, but backed that up by having 12 shots against Uruguay and 15 against Saudi Arabia.
This Argentina team are not nearly as possession dominant as a Spain, and that has meant opponents can get forward into the final third against them. However, Argentina's defence have largely kept teams at arm's distance and forced them to have shots from distance and that has meant the favourites have allowed an average of 6 shots per game against themselves.
Despite that, Argentina have only allowed 2 shots on target throughout the tournament, which is always going to make them very hard to beat.
You can see a situation where Argentina get in front and then soak up some of the pressure by allowing Cape Verde to get into the final third, but then restricting the quality of shots. The underdog will take their chances by shooting at goal as they did in the Group Stage and the best approach here may be backing Cape Verde to have at least 7 shots at odds against.
The Pick :
Argentina 2-0 Cape Verde
