Argentina face Cape Verde in their knockout stage opener as they continue their quest to defend their world title.Lionel Scaloni’s star-studded squad will clash with the island nation after they have written history by becoming the smallest nation to reach beyond the group phase.Messi has been in sensational form and is now the World Cup’s greatest scorerGettyCape Verde finished second in Group H behind European champions Spain, but ahead of South American giants Uruguay.The African team have captivated football fans around the world after their opening match in the World Cup, holding Luis de la Fuente’s Spain side to a 0-0 draw.They followed that up with a comeback performance to equalise against Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay and take another point.Meanwhile, Argentina’s Lionel Messi is in record-breaking form as he leads the Golden Boot race at 38 years old.Additionally, he secured his first World Cup hat-trick against Algeria in their opening fixture of the international competition.The reigning world champions were dominant throughout the group phase, securing all nine points across their three encounters.How to follow Argentina vs Cape VerdeThe Round of 32 fixture will be held on Friday, July 3 and will start at 11pm BST (6pm local time).It will be taking place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, home to NFL side Miami Dolphins.The match will be free to watch on ITV1 from 10pm and will be streamed live on ITVX.talkSPORT will also have live coverage of the showdown with Adrian Durham, Jim Proudfoot and former England captain Stuart Pearce.Cape Verde’s keeper Vozinha went from 43k follower to 15million after his heroic performance in their World Cup openerAFPTune in to talkSPORT through the website via the live stream or find us on DAB digital radio through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.Download and listen to all our live commentaries via the talkSPORT app.Visit talkSPORT BET for all the latest odds and bet boosts for every big event.Subscribe to our talkSPORT YouTube channel for news, views and analysis plus our regular goals show and for more, follow us on talkSPORT Facebook and talkSPORT X.Argentina vs Cape Verde: What has been said?Scaloni has admitted that Cape Verde should not be a team that is overlooked by his squad.After Argentina’s 3-1 win over Jordan, he said: “Cape Verde didn’t surprise me, because it’s a good team.Argentina are striving to become the third country to win consecutive World CupsGetty“It’s a tough opponent, one that already made things difficult for Spain, one of the favorites, as well as for Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. It’s a fast team with quality.Meanwhile, the island nation seem hopeful ahead of the the can’t-miss matchup between the two nationsThe Cape Verde midfielder Deroy Duarte has said: “Our first objective was to go to the World Cup, our second was to pass the group stage, and this is what we did.“Everything is an honour and a reward, and we see Argentina as a game like this — another chance to make history.“So why not? We will give everything and then at the end of the game we will see.”He added: “From the very beginning we’ve said that one of the purposes we had was to show our country to the rest of the world.“Maybe for many of you the Cape Verde players are not good enough, but we came here to show that we have a lot of quality.“We’ve received a lot of support from people of different countries, but also this is how Cape Verde people are, we like to receive people and treat them like they are ours.“What a match, I’ve always seen Argentina on the television when I was young. It’s a special moment, a special game.“But still the ball is round. We played against Spain and Uruguay and drew, so why not?”The FIFA ranked No 67 team will face off with the World No 1Argentina vs Cape Verde: SquadsArgentinaGoalkeepers: Juan Musso (Atletico Madrid), Geronimo Rulli (Marseille), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa).Defenders: Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Facundo Medina (Marseille), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid).Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (River Plate), Rodrigo de Paul (Inter Miami), Valentin Barco (Strasbourg), Giovani lo Celso (Real Betis), Ezequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea).Forwards: Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Nicolas Gonzalez (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Almada (Atletico Madrid), Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid), Nico Paz (Como), Jose Manuel Lopez (Palmeiras), Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan).Cape VerdeGoalkeepers: Vozinha (Chaves), Marcio Rosa (Montana), CJ dos Santos (San Diego).Defenders: Stopira (Torreense), Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers), Joao Paulo (FCSB), Diney (Al Bataeh), Logan Costa (Villarreal), Steven Moreira (Columbus Crew), Wagner Pina (Trabzonspor), Sidny Lopes Cabral (Benfica), Kelvin Pires (SJK).Midfielders: Jamiro Monteiro (PEC Zwolle), Kevin Pina (Krasnodar), Deroy Duarte (Ludogorets), Telmo Arcanjo (Vitoria Guimaraes), Laros Duarte (Puskas Akademia), Yannick Semedo (Farense).Forwards: Ryan Mendes (Igdir), Garry Rodrigues (Apollon Limassol), Willy Semedo (Omonia), Jovane Cabral (Estrela Amadora), Gilson Tavares (Akron Tolyatti), Dailon Livramento (Casa Pia), Helio Varela (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Nuno da Costa (Istanbul Basaksehir).