Cape Verde become smallest country to make World Cup knockouts

Cape Verde’s dream journey at their first World Cup is not over yet.

The island nation off the western coast of Africa became the smallest country by population to ever make the knockout stage of a men’s World Cup after a goalless draw with Saudi Arabia in their group stage finale in Houston on Friday.

“We are small,” said Vozinha, Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper who embodied the grit of his nation. “But we have big hearts and we are fighters.”

The tournament debutants pulled off one of the World Cup’s biggest surprises by playing pre-tournament favorites Spain to a scoreless draw in its opener. They followed that up by scoring its first goals of the World Cup in a 2-2 tie against Uruguay.

– Uruguay out of World Cup after GK blunder against Spain

With Friday’s draw, they finish undefeated on three points and take second place in Group H behind 2010 winners Spain and a point ahead of two-time World Cup champions Uruguay.

Uruguay’s defeat to Spain at the same time Friday means they join Saudi Arabia in succumbing to an early exit.

The big hitters will keep coming for Cape Verde, with defending champions Argentina next up in a round-of-32 matchup in Miami Gardens, Florida, on July 3.

“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 population of 525,000 inhabitants is smaller than all 50 U.S. states, with Wyoming the closest with a population of 576,000.

Already they have gone further than the only smaller nations by population to reach the World Cup. Curaçao and Iceland were both eliminated after the group stage in their sole appearances in 2026 and 2018, respectively.

They are the first debutants to make the World Cup knockout stage since Slovakia in 2010, and the first newcomers to go unbeaten in their three group stage matches since Senegal in 2002.

Drawing all three group matches does not 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 were 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.

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 a 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 their 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 later Cape Verde would be on such a stage,” he said. “Of course it’s hard to have such a forecast, but I always knew.”

Information from The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this report.