The Group Stage of the 2026 World Cup tournament wrapped up last Saturday and the ‘Round of 32’ kicked off on Sunday, then Monday provided two of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup: both Germany and the Netherlands came up short in their encounters against Paraguay and Morocco, respectively, after two adventurous penalty shoot-outs.

The drama and excitement will continue until the final on July 19, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and it appears that JustBet favourites France and Argentina are on a collision course to meet in the big game, that is if they both manage to navigate the gauntlet ahead them, of which France got over the first hurdle, defeating Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday. That would mean a repeat of the final in Qatar 2022, which would be only the second time in men’s FIFA World Cup history when the exact same two teams met in the final back to back, the only time being Argentina against West Germany in 1986 and 1990. Diego Maradona and Argentina were 3-2 champions in Mexico 1986, and West Germany returned in Italy 1990 with a 1-0 victory to avenge the loss four years earlier.

As for Argentina, the World Cup has not been kind to defending champions historically, as there have been only two back-to-back World Cup champions in the competition’s history, and that feat has not been repeated in the last 64 years. In Qatar 2022, the “La Albiceleste”, Argentina, won their first World Cup in 36 years, after overcoming “Les Bleus”, France, after an exciting match (ended 3-3) and heart-stopping penalty shoot-out (ending 4-2). France, after (arguably) the greatest FIFA World Cup final of all time, came heartbreakingly close to joining the elite two, Italy and Brazil, as the only nations to repeat as champions, having taken the crown at Russia 2018.

Italy was the first repeat champion, winning the second and third-ever World Cups in 1934 (on their home turf) against Czechoslovakia and 1938 in France against Hungary, then Brazil, with a 17-year-old Pele, accomplished the feat in the sixth World Cup in 1958, beating the host nation Sweden, and again in 1962, defeating Czechoslovakia in Chile, despite losing Pele to injury in the second group game, keeping him out for the rest of the tournament. Brazil’s hopes of a first-ever three-peat in England 1966 were put to rest in the group stage, with defeats to Hungary and Portugal, resulting in a surprise early exit.

That said, thoughtful mention should be made of the Netherlands, widely believed to be the best nation never to have won the World Cup after three final appearances, and who had a surprising tournament exit early this week at the hands (and feet) of Morocco. They lost two consecutive finals in 1974 and 1978 at a time when their “Total Football” era was in full swing, the other loss being in 2010 against Spain. After an impressive run to the final in 1974, and after taking the lead through a Johan Neeskens penalty, they relinquished the lead to goals from Paul Breitner and legendary striker Gerd Müller, leading to a West Germany victory at the Olympiastadion in Munich. Fast-forward to 1978 in Argentina, and the Netherlands were in similar territory, taking a similar path to another final. However, the wings of the high-flying Dutchmen were clipped by Argentina’s Mario Kempes, who secured the Golden Boot with two goals in a final that needed extra time to find a winner and broke the hearts of the “orange” Europeans.

Yes, if ever there was a tournament that displays parity, the World Cup is it, especially at the turn of the century. Not only have there been no repeat champions, but six different countries have won the last six World Cups dating back to 2002, which brings us back to the current day. Late this afternoon, Argentina takes on the team from Cape Verde, a stunning archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa for the first of what they hope will be a string of do-or-die matchups.

The “Blue Sharks”, Cape Verde, qualified for the World Cup for the first time and made history by reaching the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams after drawing all three group-stage matches, and with their 67th FIFA ranking will take on the top-ranked South Americans in Miami Stadium. JustBet (understandably) has them as heavy underdogs, but the 0-0 draw in the first group encounter against Spain, where goalkeeper Josimar José Évora Dias (Vozinha) made his presence known, should be enough to make even Lionel Messi pay attention.

The team cannot be taken lightly, and similar to what has been displayed by so many ‘lesser’ teams in this knockout phase, anything is possible. Just ask Germany and the Netherlands, and even Brazil, who just managed to get past a determined and technically skilled Japanese team. The president of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, in an exclusive interview with the BBC, predicts his country will defeat defending champions Argentina 1-0, as the upstarts continue to “write their destiny”. “We are playing to win…when expectations are low regarding a team, and if that team has the urge to win, it is possible. A small nation like Cape Verde should make an effort to always do that — to permanently surprise people,” he said.

Argentina got here by being one of only three teams to win all three games in the Group Round, the others being Mexico and France, with the co-hosts Mexico being the only one of these not to have conceded a goal in the tournament, not even in their group of 32 encounter against Ecuador on Tuesday. And with Argentina’s talisman, Messi, having designs on the Golden Boot award, this promises to be an interesting watch between him and Vozinha. Truthfully, not much resistance is expected from Cape Verde, but if their custodian can pull off half of what he did against Spain, it would be worth the watch.

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