It’s a historic day for Cape Verde! The small archipelago located off the coast of Senegal qualified for the 2026 Football World Cup by beating Eswatini 3-0 on Monday in Praia. A first in the history of this small country.
Cape Verde finished in an unexpected first place in its Africa zone qualifying group D, ahead of group favorite Cameroon.
From the final whistle, the streets of Praia, the capital, were filled with jubilant supporters, setting off fireworks in a concert of horns, dancing to reggae or funana tunes, traditional music of the small archipelago.
“Giving happiness to all these people is enormous, it is a victory for all Cape Verdeans and, above all, a victory for all those who fought for our independence,” coach Pedro Brito reacted after the meeting. “It’s a special moment in this year when we are celebrating 50 years of our independence,” added the man everyone nicknames Bubista.
The Cape Verdeans join the five other African teams already qualified, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Ghana, who had punched their ticket on Sunday evening.
With its approximately 525,000 inhabitants, Cape Verde, 70th in the FIFA rankings, which the National Federation only joined in 1986, becomes, after Iceland, the least populated country to qualify for a World Cup, and the smallest in area with its only 4,033 km2.
He will join in the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer at least two other countries starting at this level, Jordan and Uzbekistan, as many nations which benefit from the expansion of the competition to 48 teams.
A sign of the importance of the event in the small country of 12 islands, the government had decreed a half-day off so that as many supporters as possible could follow this highly anticipated moment.
The government had decreed a half-day off
It was “incredible”, commented Jorge Junior Livramento, 37, encountered by AFP not far from the stadium after the match. “I have no words, I was at the stadium and I supported our team all the way.”
The festivities were expected to last late into the night, with a concert at the Praia Municipal Stadium headlined by local stars Djodje and Soraia Ramos.
Facing an opponent with no professional players in their ranks, the Blue Sharks quickly took control of the match on the synthetic pitch in Praia.
Eswatini, who lost the first leg 2-0 and finished in last place in the group, without any victory, resisted valiantly for a period before giving in after returning from the locker room.
With the wind becoming favorable, Dailon Livramento opened the scoring after a poor dismissal from the defense (48th), scoring his fourth goal of qualifying. Willy Semedo made the break shortly after (2-0, 54th), then rushing into the stands to celebrate his goal with some of the 15,000 spectators in a trance.
Veteran Ianique Tavares, nicknamed “Stopira” in homage to former French international Yannick Stopyra, even added a third goal at the very end of the game, just after coming on, to give a little more depth to the Cape Verdean victory (3-0, 90th + 1). “It’s too much emotion, I don’t have the words to describe this moment. I am very, very happy,” he said. “I dreamed of this moment since childhood,” continued goalkeeper Vozinha, 39 years old.
“I don’t have the words to describe this moment”
Cape Verde, last in its group in the recent qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations, had a much more solid run in qualifying for the World Cup, where it lost only one of its ten matches, a defeat in Cameroon (4-1), which it beat at home in the return match last month (1-0).
Many players born abroad of Cape Verdean parents or grandparents regularly come to strengthen the national team, like the scorers Livramento, born in Rotterdam, or Semedo, born in Montfermeil, a suburb of Paris.
