Lopes Cabral's stunning goal for Cape Verde named best goal of 2026 World Cup
JAKARTA - Cape Verde made history again at the 2026 World Cup when Sidny Lopes Cabral won the public vote for the best goal of the tournament.
Lopes Cabral's curling shot into the top corner of Argentina's goal was a remarkable moment at the 2026 World Cup as the little-known African team made a brilliant debut.
His goal tied the score at 2-2 against Argentina in extra time in a thrilling round of 32 match in Miami Gardens. Cape Verde eventually lost 2-3.
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Lopes Cabral's goal was chosen as the best goal out of the 308 goals scored in the tournament, beating Eldor Shomurodov's beautiful lob goal for Uzbekistan against the Democratic Republic of Congo and Wilson Isidor's goal from Haiti with a hard shot that soared against Morocco.
FIFA compiled a shortlist of 12 goals for public voting which closed on Monday, July 27, 2026.
Lopes Cabral's celebration also went down in World Cup history when he broke away from his teammates who tried to grab him before heading to the stands to hug his girlfriend and search for his mother.
"Before the game, I told my mum and girlfriend that if I scored I would run to them."
"When I got there, I saw my mum crying. She didn't even realise I was there. Everyone was busy looking after her because she fainted when I scored," he said.
Cape Verde gave a fierce resistance to the two 2026 World Cup finalists in their four matches. In addition to playing against Argentina, the brilliant performance of goalkeeper Vozinha made Cape Verde start the tournament with a surprising 0-0 draw against Spain - who eventually became champions.