Wow. Wow wow wow wow.
That’s the most honest reaction anyone can possibly give after watching Argentina’s clash with Cape Verde in the World Cup round of 32.
Gary Neville quite rightly described it as the best underdog performance he has ever seen, with the competition debutants taking the reigning world champions and the greatest player of all time all the way to the bitter end.
Argentina and Cape Verde provide instant World Cup classic
Everything looked to be going exactly according to the script when Lionel Messi took down a ball over the top and fired past Vozinha in a very Dennis Bergkamp-esque way with 29 minutes on the clock.
Deroy Duarte levelled things up 14 minutes into the second half, though, firing between Lisandro Martinez’s legs to leave Emiliano Martinez unsighted from a narrow angle.
Argentina were unable to force another goal before the 90 minutes expired, with Cape Verde again resilient and the 40-year-old goalkeeper in inspired form to keep Argentina at bay.
That forced the game to extra time, and Cape Verde would have been forgiven for thinking all hope was lost after Lisandro Martinez restored the lead just two minutes into the additional half-hour.
But Sidny Cabral stunned Argentina just before the interval, cutting inside from the left onto his right foot and putting an absolute pearler of a curler into the far top corner with a finish Mo Salah would count among his best.
Cabral celebrated in style, too, running up a set of steps and into what appeared to be the section for friends and family, sharing an embrace with several people including a young woman before returning to the pitch.
At 2-2, the tantalising possibility was live again: could we see the biggest shock in World Cup history unfold before our eyes?
Sadly, it wasn’t to be. Diney Borges was the unfortunate scorer of an own goal off Messi’s corner after he was left unsighted by Cristian Romero’s leap and saw the ball cannon in off his arm.
Cape Verde still refused to say die, and they gave Argentina more than a couple of scares as they pushed for a third and final equaliser.
But the clock was against them, and time ran out before they were able to provide one final twist.
Regardless, it was an absolutely phenomenal game of football, and Cape Verde will go home with their heads held high having made the whole world fall in love with them over the past three weeks.
Full-time: Argentina 3-2 Cape Verde (After Extra Time)