Miracles happen in World Cup qualifiers

In the early morning of October 14, the national team of a country with a population of only nearly 600,000, Cape Verde, defeated Eswatini 3-0, thereby winning the first World Cup ticket in history.

Cape Verde qualified for the World Cup for the first time.

In the final match of Group D of the African qualifying round, Cape Verde holds the right to decide. If they defeat the weakest opponent in the group, coach Leitao Brito and his team will maintain the top position in the group against competition from Cameroon.

Facing the enthusiastic support of the home crowd, Cape Verde pressured Eswatini and scored 3 goals in the second half, all from close-range shots by Rocha Livramento, Willy Semedo and Stopira.

The sad news was immediately transmitted to the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium, where Cameroon was hosting Angola. The "Indomitable Lions" lost their spirit and let their opponents hold them to a 0-0 draw, thereby regretfully finishing the qualifying round in 2nd place.

Group B ended with Cape Verde qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The Blue Sharks became the next team to appear in a World Cup for the first time, after Jordan and Uzbekistan. This was a well-deserved reward for Livramento and his teammates' impressive performance. They were unbeaten in six consecutive matches, including a landmark 1-0 victory over Cameroon.

According to Transfermarkt , the value of Cape Verde's squad is only 27.2 million euros. The most expensive player of the West African team is only 5 million euros, namely Wagner Pina (Trabzonspor - Turkey) and Kevin Lenini (Krasnodar - Russia).

Ranking of teams in group D.

Source: https://znews.vn/dieu-ky-dieu-xuat-hien-o-vong-loai-world-cup-post1593483.html