Printed On 27 Jun 2026
Tiny Cape Verde have turn into the historical past makers of World Cup 2026 by defying all odds to turn into the smallest nation to earn a spot within the knockout levels of the competitors.
Their unbelievable run by way of the group stage, with a 3rd straight World Cup draw, was accomplished with a 0-0 draw towards Saudi Arabia on Friday night time to advance within the match.
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Preserving objective for Cape Verde all through has been Vozinha, 40, who has embodied the grit of his nation.
“We’re small, however we now have huge hearts and we’re fighters,” stated the goalkeeper, who final season performed for Chaves in Portugal’s second tier.
The island nation off the western coast of Africa, which is making its debut on soccer’s grandest stage, already held 2010 champion Spain to a 0-0 draw – a shock in itself to start their marketing campaign.
They then got here from behind to get a 2-2 end result towards Uruguay – the winners of the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
“The workforce was very keen to indicate this to the entire world,” Cape Verde coach Bubista stated whereas draped in his nation’s flag after the Saudi Arabia recreation.
“We’re happy with having arrived at this stage. We have now proven that we’re a small nation, however that we combat for the issues that we need to obtain.”
Cape Verde’s three factors put the workforce in second place behind Spain, which beat Uruguay on Friday night time and gained the group.
Cape Verde will play reigning World Cup champion Argentina in Miami on July 3.
Drawing all three group matches doesn’t assure development at main soccer tournaments, however a number of groups have carried out it previously. These embody: Wales in 1958, Eire and the Netherlands in 1990, and Chile in 1998. New Zealand, nonetheless, additionally bought three attracts on the 2010 World Cup and have been eradicated.
On the eve of the match, Bubista mused, “Everyone seems to be entitled to dream and nothing is not possible.”
The Blue Sharks proved him proper, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds as this nation of simply 530,000 reached the spherical of 32.
A lady, her face painted with a flag of the archipelago, held an indication that learn: “Small Islands, Massive Goals,” a dream that these underdogs have made actuality as they proceed their charmed run on the world stage.
They did it with one other sturdy recreation from Vozinha, whose match success has helped him amass greater than 16 million Instagram followers.
He had a save in first-half stoppage time, grabbing a header from Mohamed Kanno to maintain Saudi Arabia scoreless. One other save got here within the 66th minute when he leaped to deflect a shot from Mohammed Abu al-Shamat.
A 3rd got here within the 92nd minute when he stopped a shot by Abdullah al-Hamdan.
“There may be plenty of high quality in our nationwide workforce,” Vozinha stated. “Possibly for a lot of of you, you suppose the Cape Verdean participant is just not ok. However we got here right here to indicate that we now have plenty of high quality and we’re right here to compete and our gamers can play in all places within the huge competitors, within the huge leagues.”
A gaggle of shirtless males within the crowd every painted one letter of his identify on their chests as they cheered Cape Verde.
However Vozinha had a a lot greater fan among the many crowd of 68,278 as his mom Ana Candida Evora watched from a luxurious suite, waving a tiny Cape Verde flag. It was her second match of the match after lacking Vozinha’s epic seven-save efficiency towards Spain due to visa points.
Cape Verde had an opportunity to attain within the fiftieth minute, however Kevin Pina’s shot from distance was simply above the crossbar. One other likelihood got here within the 74th minute when Laros Duarte’s shot from the center of the field was stopped by goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais.
A final likelihood to attain got here within the last seconds when Nuno da Costa despatched a shot from the center of the field large left.
But it surely didn’t matter as a result of a few minutes after the ultimate whistle, Spain accomplished its victory over Uruguay and set off a joyous celebration amongst Cape Verde’s gamers and followers, a lot of whom cried as they rejoiced.
Having led his squad to new heights, Bubista was requested if he might have imagined such a run coming into the match.
“I’ve all the time stated that eventually Cape Verde can be on such a stage,” he stated. “After all, it’s exhausting to have such a forecast, however I all the time knew.”
Saudi Arabia have been eradicated after ending with two factors within the group stage.
“We have been very poor when it comes to creating issues, controlling the sport and creating actions,” coach Georgios Donis stated. “And one can’t win a recreation this fashion. It could be very troublesome.”
