{"id":2361,"date":"2026-06-29T09:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T06:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/argentina-braced-for-hard-knockout-test-vs-cape-verde-in-round-of-32\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T09:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T06:03:24","slug":"argentina-braced-for-hard-knockout-test-vs-cape-verde-in-round-of-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/argentina-braced-for-hard-knockout-test-vs-cape-verde-in-round-of-32\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentina Braced for Hard Knockout Test vs Cape Verde in Round of 32"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Argentina have turned their focus to the knockout phase and their round-of-32 meeting with Cape Verde, insisting the African debutants will not be an easy obstacle even after talk that their path beyond the early stages could be relatively straightforward.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Argentina finished top of Group J after a 3-1 victory over Jordan, following wins over Algeria and Austria.<\/li>\n<li>They will face Cape Verde in the round of 32 after the island nation held Spain to a 0-0 draw and drew 2-2 with Uruguay.<\/li>\n<li>Argentina\u2019s coach Lionel Scaloni warned against underestimating Cape Verde, calling them a strong side.<\/li>\n<li>Defender Cristian Romero was the only player unavailable for the Jordan match due to an injury picked up against Austria.<\/li>\n<li>Five Argentina players made their World Cup debuts in the Jordan game, with Giovani Lo Celso scoring a first-half free kick.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Argentina\u2019s group-stage statement sets up Cape Verde test<\/h2>\n<p>Argentina\u2019s tournament momentum carried straight into the weekend, as they completed a near-flawless group campaign by beating Jordan 3-1 on Saturday. Earlier in the group phase, they accounted for Algeria 3-0 and Austria 2-0, with Lionel Messi reaching six goals across the competition.<\/p>\n<p>The defending champions now face Cape Verde, who earned their place in the round of 32 with an eye-catching group showing. Cape Verde drew 0-0 with Spain before forcing a 2-2 tie against Uruguay.<\/p>\n<p>Scaloni addressed the prospect of a comfortable route and pushed back on any suggestion that the next opponent would be anything less than demanding. \u201cIt\u2019s pointless for me to sit here and say they\u2019re not a tough opponent, because that would be a lie,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cMaybe for many it\u2019s not like that, but I can assure you they are a good team and will make things difficult for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Argentina also learned that, should they advance, their knockout journey would keep them away from a previous world champion until the semi-finals. Despite that draw, the squad echoed Scaloni\u2019s message of caution rather than complacency.<\/p>\n<p>Winger Giuliano Simeone stressed that the team\u2019s preparation will be opponent-agnostic in terms of intensity. \u201cWe always focus on ourselves, any opponent is difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to try to do the most damage possible with our best weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Midfielder Leandro Paredes added that the mood has already shifted after a very positive group stage. \u201cWe achieved the first objective, which was to go through, and now we want more. From tomorrow we\u2019ll prepare the match with Cape Verde,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2>Training in Kansas City ahead of Miami clash<\/h2>\n<p>Argentina returned to training in Kansas City on Monday, before turning attention to the round-of-32 fixture in Miami on July 3.<\/p>\n<p>Scaloni confirmed that Cristian Romero was sidelined for the Jordan game because of the injury he suffered against Austria, with the defender the only player unable to feature.<\/p>\n<h2>World Cup debuts and Lo Celso\u2019s breakthrough<\/h2>\n<p>The Jordan match also stood out for Argentina\u2019s group of newcomers, with five players making their World Cup debuts: Simeone, Giovani Lo Celso, Valentin Barco, Marcos Senesi and Jose Manuel Lopez.<\/p>\n<p>For Lo Celso, the moment carried extra weight. He had been part of Argentina\u2019s 2018 squad but did not take the field in Russia, and he also played a prominent role in the build-up to their 2022 success. He was forced to miss the tournament in Qatar due to injury.<\/p>\n<p>Against Jordan, Lo Celso made the most of his chance by scoring with a 19th-minute free kick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI waited a long time for this moment. I dreamed of it a lot, and it was much more than I could have imagined,\u201d Lo Celso said. \u201cSooner or later, work pays off. It\u2019s been a long journey, and tonight was more than I dreamed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scaloni singled out the midfielder\u2019s resilience as well, praising his long wait and the way he has remained committed to the group. \u201cHe\u2019s been with us from day one, a spectacular boy who missed the last World Cup in a cruel way. We\u2019re happy for him, because he\u2019s important for the group.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Argentina have turned their focus to the knockout phase and their round-of-32 meeting with Cape Verde, insisting the African debutants will not be an easy obstacle even after talk that their path beyond the early stages could be relatively straightforward. Key takeaways Argentina finished top of Group J after a 3-1 victory over Jordan, following [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Argentina vs Cape Verde: Round of 32 Knockout Test","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Argentina gear up for a tough Round of 32 clash with Cape Verde, aiming to build on top-of-Group J form and advance despite the de","mma_seo_breadcrumb_text":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_url":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_hide_ui":"","mma_seo_breadcrumb_labels":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Argentina vs Cape Verde: Round of 32 Knockout Test<\/title>\n<meta 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Over four years, she helped evolve the platform from a simple blog into one of South Africa\u2019s leading independent entertainment news sites. Following ZAlebs\u2019 transition to Celebrity Worx in 2016, Zibuyile was promoted to Executive Editor, recognized for her sharp audience insight and ability to match editorial with branded content. Highlights of her time include a Bookmark Award nomination, judging TLC\u2019s Next Great Presenter, reporting from the MTV EMAs, and building partnerships with radio stations like YFM, Cliff Central, and Good Hope FM. Her editorial work also expanded to include fast-growing digital verticals\u2014such as lifestyle tech, online entertainment, and gambling-related content\u2014tailored to evolving reader interests and brand opportunities.","sameAs":["https:\/\/za.linkedin.com\/in\/zibuyile-dladla-9a26628a"],"url":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/author\/zibuyile-dladla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zalebs.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}