Scaloni warned the Argentine national team against underestimating Cape Verde before the match of the 1/16 finals of the World Cup

The head coach of the Argentina national team, Lionel Scaloni, called on his wards to take the next opponent at the World Cup, the Cape Verde national team, as seriously as possible. The teams will compete for a ticket to the 1/8 finals of the tournament. Cape Verde has already written its name in the history of world football. The island nation, with a population of around 525,000 people (smaller than any of the 50 US states), finished second in a tough Group H. The sensational team lost to top-seeded Spain, but left behind a strong Saudi Arabia and two-time world champions Uruguay. "Cape Verde didn't surprise me, because it's a good team. It's a difficult opponent that has already made life difficult for Spain, one of the favorites, as well as Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. It's a fast and quality team," Scaloni emphasized after Interestingly, the Cape Verdeans have already surpassed the achievements of the previous debutant record holders with the smallest population: Curaçao (at the current World Cup 2026) and Iceland (World Cup 2018) were eliminated from the tournament immediately after the group stages in their only appearances. The national team of Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, is currently showing an impeccable result. The Albiceleste topped Group J with nine points after successive wins over Algeria, Austria and Jordan to finish the first round unbeaten. The players of the team are determined and support the position of their coach. "We always focus on ourselves, any opponent is tough. We have to try to do maximum damage to the opponent using our best weapon," said striker Simeone. "We have achieved the first goal of reaching the next round, and now we want more. Starting tomorrow, we will prepare for the match against Cape Verde," added Lautaro. In the coming days, the Argentina national team will return to their base camp in Kansas City for recovery and intensive training. After that, the team will go to Miami, Florida, where the 1/16 final match will take place.