Cape Verde seal historic debut place at World Cup 2026

Cape Verde have booked their place as debutants at the 2026 World Cup after a 3-0 home victory over Eswatini secured top spot in their African qualifying group.

With a population of around 525,000, the tiny Atlantic island nation will become the second-smallest country by population to play at a men’s World Cup finals, behind only Iceland, who qualified in 2018.

The Blue Sharks overcame a nervous first 45 minutes amid windy conditions in Praia, with three second-half goals ensuring they topped Group D ahead of Cameroon. The Indomitable Lions needed to beat Angola and hope Cape Verde slipped up, but could only draw their game 0-0 in Yaoundé and must now hope to progress via the playoffs.

break against winless opponents, before fellow forward Willy Semedo made it 2-0 six minutes later to spark rapturous celebrations. Late substitute Stopira added a third in stoppage time to rubber-stamp qualification for a team ranked 70th in the world.

Cape Verde’s remarkable passage to the finals in North America came after they made a disappointing start to their 10-match campaign, drawing 0-0 at home with Angola and slumping to a 4-1 loss in Cameroon after winning away to Eswatini.

The team also fared poorly in 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, winning only one match from six and failing to secure a place at a tournament where they have reached the quarter-finals twice, in 2013 and 2023. Despite flopping as Egypt and Botswana advanced, officials retained faith in the team’s long-serving coach, Pedro Leitão Brito.

The manager popularly known as “Bubista” led his side to five consecutive victories in World Cup qualifying, including crucial one-goal wins away to Angola and at home to Cameroon. After failing to secure their finals place in a dramatic 3-3 draw in Libya last week, Cape Verde got the job done in front of 15,000 fans on Monday.

In Group H, already-qualified Tunisia achieved a ninth victory by overcoming second-placed Namibia 3-0. Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri was among the scorers for the Carthage Eagles, who did not concede once in their 10 qualifying matches.

Namibia edged Liberia – who drew 1-1 with Equatorial Guinea – on goal difference for the runners-up spot, but will not reach the playoffs for second-placed nations as their points total is among the lowest across all 10 groups.

Via The Guardian