Cape Verde has made historical past by qualifying for its first-ever FIFA World Cup after a convincing 3–0 victory over Eswatini on Monday.
The Blue Sharks sealed their place on the 2026 FIFA World Cup—set to be collectively hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico—after a formidable qualifying marketing campaign that noticed them high Group D forward of the Lions of Cameroon with 23 factors from 10 matches. Cape Verde received seven video games, drew two, and misplaced simply as soon as.
Cape Verde may have secured qualification earlier with a win over Libya in its earlier outing, however a dramatic 3–3 draw meant the crew wanted a victory in its ultimate match to substantiate its place. The gamers rose to the event in entrance of their followers.
Dailon Livramento opened the scoring within the forty eighth minute earlier than Willy Semedo doubled the lead six minutes later. Substitute Stopira, launched late within the second half, sealed the win in stoppage time to ship the island nation into jubilation.
This qualification marks a historic second for Cape Verde, a rustic of lower than 1,000,000 individuals, whose regular rise in African soccer has been outstanding.
Cameroon, seen because the favorite in Group D, will now have to attend for a doable lifeline by the playoff route.
Historic event taking form
Subsequent 12 months’s World Cup would be the greatest in historical past, increasing to 48 groups for the primary time. The event will run from 11 June to 19 July 2026, throughout 16 cities in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
Cape Verde now joins 21 different nations which have already secured their tickets to North America following months of intense qualification battles throughout totally different continents.
The three host nations—the USA, Canada, and Mexico—certified robotically and can every play group-stage matches on residence soil.
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From South America, the qualifiers are Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, and Paraguay, whereas Bolivia nonetheless has an opportunity by the intercontinental play-offs.
Asia will probably be represented by Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, South Korea, Japan, and Australia—with Uzbekistan and Jordan set for his or her debut World Cup appearances.
From Africa, 5 international locations—Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, and Ghana—had already booked their tickets earlier than Cape Verde’s historic qualification.
New Zealand will signify Oceania, having confirmed their spot earlier this 12 months.
