LG Rudder realized that the photo of Sydney Lopes Cabral embracing his girlfriend Jayli da Cruz would be one of the most iconic images summarizing the tournament. But he only needed to find its counterpart in the art world. Credit: Jussi Eskola/Soccrates/Getty Images/Pierre-Auguste Renoir

CNN -- In the 102nd minute of the World Cup match against Argentina, Cape Verde full-back Sydney Lopes Cabral stole the spotlight with a stunning shot that found the back of the net of one of the world's strongest teams, before rushing to the stands to embrace his girlfriend Jayli da Cruz. The embrace quickly became an iconic image, prompting LG Rudder to turn it into a new work as part of his art project.

Rudder said: 'Regardless of whether Cape Verde would win the match or not, that was the image that would summarize this encounter.'

Rudder is the founder of the famous Art But Make It Sports accounts, through which he transforms pivotal sports moments into artistic comparisons, by placing game images alongside classical paintings and sculptures that share the same movement, composition, or feeling.

He also published a book featuring his most notable works, including a comparison between US women's national team player Brandi Chastain's celebration after winning the 1999 World Cup and a 12th-century sculpture exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Cape Verde national team player Sydney Lopes Cabral during his country's match against Argentina at the 2026 World Cup. Credit: Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

LG Rudder explained that football presents different challenges compared to other sports within his project that combines art and sports, noting that the difficulty lies in the limited range of positions players can assume, especially due to their inability to use their hands.

He added that American football, despite the difficulty of capturing players' faces, offers greater diversity due to the many elements and movement, while basketball is the easiest for him because jumping and constant motion provide a large number of visual options.

However, the World Cup changed the equation, as everyone is now following the same event, with followers constantly sending him images from matches, along with photographers from around the world capturing extraordinary moments, providing a wealth of material to work with.

Rudder pointed out that summer is usually quieter for other sports, with the WNBA, baseball, and Wimbledon, but the global attention on the World Cup turns this period into a special tournament season for everyone.

Regarding his method for selecting images and artistic comparisons, Rudder explained that each case has its own specifics, but the goal always remains to find a real sports photo, not just a screenshot, and then choose the artwork that best matches it. He noted that he has many images in a drafts folder, but not all of them meet the editorial standard he sets for himself.

Cape Verde national team players celebrate the goal against Argentina. Credit: Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Due to the large number of photographers during the World Cup, he would sometimes wish to get a shot one or two seconds after the original photo to have a better hand position or visual detail, and he would occasionally contact photographers for additional angles, something that rarely happens outside major tournaments. If the image was taken from a video, he would go back to previous or subsequent frames to choose the most suitable moment.

From the stadium to art museums

He explained that the search for the right artwork sometimes begins with a specific painting, and sometimes with a particular artist's style. He cited a photo from the Argentina vs. Egypt match, where he initially did not find the right work, before turning to the works of French artist Fernand Léger, but felt they did not achieve the desired result, so he chose the style of German-American artist Hans Hofmann, characterized by strong colors, abstract shapes, and geometric and curved lines.

On his transition between different art schools, from Romantic to modern and abstract, Rudder said he has a 'mental library' of artworks he refers to, noting that he now relies on abstract art as much as he relies on Renaissance art.

He clarified that the image of Sydney Lopes Cabral embracing his girlfriend after scoring the goal was an example of that, as he found many works depicting an embrace between a man and a woman, but he chose a painting by French artist Renoir because the woman in it looks directly at the viewer, in addition to the visual similarity between the player's girlfriend's phone and the fan held by the character in the painting.

As for the photo from the Egypt vs. Australia match, it immediately reminded him of the works of Russian artist Kandinsky, due to his use of straight and circular lines and the similarity of colors between red and yellow. He spent time adjusting the crop and aligning the black line between the image and the painting, and the red in the artwork seemed to flow outward, while the yellow remained fixed and surrounded by clear boundaries, just like the scene inside the stadium.

Regarding the interaction of football fans with him on social media, Rudder noted that he received many comments from new international followers on the account, pointing out that the passion of the fans is what makes the experience special.