A player who used trash bags as curtains, surpassing Messi and Mbappé, wins the honor of the World Cup's "Best Goal"

*This content was translated by AI.

Sidney Lopes Cabral (24, Trabzonspor), a fullback for the Cape Verde national football team, has been selected as the recipient of the "Best Goal" that shone at the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup.

FIFA announced on the 28th (Korean time) that "Cabral's long-range goal in the Round of 16 match against Argentina was chosen as the best goal of this tournament through fan voting."

Earlier, Cabral scored a spectacular goal in the 13th minute of the first half of extra time during the Round of 16 match against Argentina at Miami Stadium in the United States on the 4th, when his team was trailing 1-2.

At that time, Cabral skillfully dribbled past Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) from the left side of the penalty box and shook the opponent's net with a curling shot using his right foot.

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez dove to block it, but Cabral's shot followed an exquisite trajectory and was sucked into the Argentine goal. The expected goals (xG) value was only 0.03.

Despite Cabral's equalizing goal, Cape Verde could not overcome a heartbreaking own goal conceded in the 6th minute of the second half of extra time and lost to Argentina 2-3, leading to their elimination. However, with a population of only 580,000, Cape Verde had previously drawn 0-0 against Spain in the group stage and engaged in a tense extra-time battle against Argentina, emerging as the tournament's biggest surprise team.

In the global fan vote, Cabral's goal that pushed Argentina into a desperate situation was also chosen as the best goal of the tournament. He surpassed world-class strikers such as Lionel Messi of Argentina, Kylian Mbappé of France, and Erling Haaland of Norway, etching his name in World Cup history.

Cabral recalled the moment, saying, "After dribbling past the opponent, I saw space and thought, 'Let me try a shot.' I was confident with both feet and aimed for the corner of the goal, and the shot connected perfectly." He added, "My teammates were all holding their heads in disbelief, shouting and celebrating. It truly felt like I had scored such a wonderful goal at the World Cup. I was really happy to score such a goal against a strong team on such a big stage."

FIFA highlighted that "Cabral is only the second fullback to win the Best Goal of the World Cup since Benjamin Pavard (Inter Milan, 2018 Russia World Cup)." It noted, "Just three years ago, Cabral was playing in Germany's fifth division, and his home life was so difficult that he had to hang black trash bags instead of curtains on his windows. His football career, which led from an unknown player to a star, met an even more dramatic conclusion with this 'Best Goal of the World Cup' award."

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*This content was translated by AI.