Cape Verde didn’t just lose to Argentina. They made the defending champions earn every second of a 3-2 extra-time win in the Round of 32. And the man at the center of it all was goalkeeper Vozinha, who walked off the pitch with something better than a win — he walked off with Lionel Messi’s jersey and a moment he’ll never forget.
Messi opened the scoring in the 29th minute with his 20th World Cup goal. But Cape Verde refused to fold. Twice they equalized in regular time, pushing Argentina all the way to the 111th minute before an own goal finally ended their run. Nobody expected Cape Verde to get out of their group, let alone push a star-studded Argentina side to the brink.
Vozinha was the biggest reason for that. He made 18 saves across four matches. Some of them were ridiculous. Against Argentina alone, he pulled off saves that forced even Messi to take notice.
Speaking after the game, Vozinha shared what happened between them.
“I went up to Messi after the game. He hugged me and said, You are great. Your people should be proud of you. That was incredible for me. Hearing words like that from someone like Leo Messi means a lot to me. I thanked him and said, ‘Thank you, Leo. You are the best.’ Then I asked if we could swap shirts. Leo said he would give it to me in the tunnels after the interview,” Vozinha told reporters.
He didn’t just leave with a memory. Messi made good on that promise. Vozinha is heading home with a signed Argentina jersey from the greatest player of this generation.
Numbers That Tell the Story
Vozinha finished the tournament with a 78.3% save percentage. He faced 74 shots across four games and posted a team-high average rating of 7.63. Cape Verde were supposed to be cannon fodder in a group that included Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. Instead, they advanced to the knockout stage and refused to be anyone’s punching bag.
Argentina created chances all night. They attacked with patience. Lisandro Martinez set up Messi’s opener and then scored in the 92nd minute to put Argentina ahead a second time. But Cape Verde answered again in the 103rd minute. It took a late own goal — ugly, scrappy, the kind of goal nobody wants to be remembered by — for Argentina to survive.
Vozinha did everything he could. He made himself as big as possible. He turned Messi shots into corner kicks. He kept his team in a game where they had no business being competitive on paper.
Now he goes home as a national hero. With a jersey. And a story he’ll tell for the rest of his life.
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