“They kick lumps out of me”: Messi laughs after classy Cabo Verde gesture | OneFootball

Lionel Messi once again proved his greatness both on and off the pitch at the 2026 World Cup. After the hard-fought qualification of the Argentina national team for the round of 16 with a 3-2 win over Cape Verde at Hard Rock Stadium, the Albiceleste captain starred in a great gesture in the mixed zone: he took the time to pose for photos and sign autographs for several players from the African side who were waiting for him with admiration.

“They asked me for my jersey, everything… On the field, they kick the hell out of me, haha,” joked the “No. 10” to the press about the attention from his rivals during the match. The Rosario star was the undisputed man of the match, opening the scoring to reach the historic record of 20 World Cup goals and playing an active role in the other two, delivering the crosses that ended in Lisandro Martínez’s celebration and Diney’s own goal.

Self-criticism and the value of set pieces

Despite the joy of the victory, Messi kept his feet on the ground and gave a blunt assessment of Lionel Scaloni’s team’s performance. “We knew it was going to be a very tough match. It’s no coincidence this team hadn’t lost to Spain and Uruguay. We did the hardest part, which was finding the first goal, and we thought that from there we’d find our game. It was the complete opposite: we lost the ball, dropped back, and couldn’t press well,” the Argentine captain admitted.

However, the forward highlighted a key factor that ultimately unlocked passage to the next round: efficiency on set plays. “This national team has been showing it for a long time: it competes and will keep competing until the end. Today we had the importance of set pieces, where maybe we hadn’t been converting. We’ve been working on it for a long time, both offensively and defensively. We have good headers of the ball, people who are strong in the air, and today we were able to take advantage of that,” the “Flea” emphasized.

Next stop: Egypt in Atlanta

With their ticket to the round of 16 secured, the reigning world champion already knows its next opponent on the road to defending the title. Argentina will face Egypt, the team that comes in after eliminating Australia in a penalty shootout. The crucial clash will be played next Tuesday, July 7, at 1:00 p.m. (Argentina time) in the city of Atlanta.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.