FIFA World Cup 2026: Cape Verde’s dream run continues, becoming smallest country into knockouts

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - June 27, 2026 12:01 pm IST - Houston Cape Verde's Vozinha celebrates with Dailon Livramento after the match as they qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup on June 26, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters Tiny Cape Verde defied odds to become the smallest country to earn a spot in the World Cup knockout round behind the stellar play of Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who embodied the grit of his nation. Also read | Spain stunned in 0-0 draw with World Cup debutants Cape Verde “We are small,” he said. “But we have big hearts and we are fighters.” Cape Verde completed an improbable run through the group stage with a third straight World Cup draw, a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Friday (June 26, 2026) night to advance in the tournament. The small 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 and then came from behind to get a 2-2 result against Uruguay. “The team was very eager to show this to the whole world,” Cape Verde coach Bubista said while draped in his country's flag. “We are proud of having arrived at this stage. We have shown that we are a small country, but that we fight for the things that we want to achieve.” Cape Verde's three points put the team in second place behind Spain, who beat Uruguay on Friday (June 26, 2026) night and won the group. Cape Verde will play reigning World Cup champion Argentina in Miami on July 3. Drawing all three group matches doesn't guarantee advancement at major soccer tournaments. But several teams have done it in the past, including Wales in 1958, Ireland and the Netherlands in 1990, and Chile in 1998. New Zealand, however, also got three draws at the 2010 World Cup and was eliminated. On the eve of the match, Bubista mused, “everyone is entitled to dream and nothing is impossible.” The Blue Sharks proved him right, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds as this country of just more than 500,000 reached the round of 32. A woman, her face painted with a flag of the archipelago, held a sign that read: “Small Islands, Big Dreams.” A dream that these underdogs have made reality as they continue their charmed run on the world stage. They did it with another strong game from Vozinha, whose tournament success has helped him amass more than 16 million Instagram followers. He had a save in first half stoppage time, grabbing a header from Mohamed Kanno to keep Saudi Arabia scoreless. Another save came in the 66th minute when he leaped to deflect a shot from Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat. A third came in the 92nd minute when he stopped a shot by Abdullah Al-Hamdan. “There is a lot of quality in our national team,” Vozinha said. “Maybe for many of you, you think the Cape Verdean player is not good enough. But we came here to show that we have a lot of quality and we are here to compete and our players can play everywhere in the big competition, in the big leagues.” A group of shirtless men in the crowd each painted one letter of his name on their chests as they cheered Cape Verde. But Vozinha had a much bigger fan among the crowd of 68,278 as his mother Ana Candida Evora watched from a luxury suite, waving a tiny Cape Verde flag. It was her second match of the tournament after missing Vozinha's epic seven-save performance against Spain because of visa issues. Cape Verde had a chance to score in the 50th minute, but Kevin Pina's shot from distance was just above the crossbar. Another chance came in the 74th minute when Laros Duarte's shot from the middle of the box was stopped by goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais. A last chance to score came in the final seconds when Nuno da Costa sent a shot from the middle of the box wide left. But it didn't matter because a couple of minutes after the final whistle, Spain completed its victory over Uruguay and set off a joyous celebration among Cape Verde's players and fans, many of whom cried as they rejoiced. Having led his squad to new heights, Bubista was asked if he could have imagined such a run entering the tournament. “I've always said that sooner or late

FIFA World Cup 2026: Cape Verde’s dream run continues, becoming smallest country into knockouts

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FIFA World Cup 2026: Cape Verde’s dream run continues, becoming smallest country into knockouts

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