Cape Verde made history as they sealed a place in the World Cup knockout rounds on their tournament debut, drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia on Saturday morning (UK time).
The Island nation have captured the imagination this summer, holding combined three-time World Cup winners Spain and Uruguay to 0-0 and 2-2 draws, respectively. That left them on the verge of progression in the knockout rounds, which they sealed here with a goalless draw against Saudi Arabia, who have been eliminated at the bottom of Group H.
Both sides had their chances to win the vital clash in Houston. Mohamed Kanno missed a free header for the Saudis in the first half, which, had he converted, would have sent them into the knockout rounds. Meanwhile, Cape Verde looked more and more likely to score as the game wore on, with Laros Duarte missing a one-on-one in the 74th minute and Nuno da Costa firing just wide in the last seconds for what would have been one of the team goals of this tournament.
But in the end, the draw here, coupled with Spain beating Uruguay in Group H’s other final match, was enough to see the debutants clinch an unlikely second place.
Dogged defensive effort seals historic Cape Verde progression
Cape Verde really have shown everything at this tournament so far. There was Vozinha’s heroics against Spain, which earned him a monumental social media following that is still growing by the day. Then, they took the lead against Uruguay, before then battling from behind to snatch another incredible point.
Here, it was once again all about the defence, as Cape Verde frustrated the life out of Saudi Arabia to clinch second place.
Cape Verde’s stunning group stage defensive effort
Holding midfielder Kevin Pina led the charge, making two tackles, four clearances, an interception and five recoveries, while winning six of his 10 duels and completing 54 passes to ensure composure on turnovers. Behind him, meanwhile, centre-back pairing Roberto Lopes and Diney Borges combined to make a metric ton of defensive interventions, including but not limited to 11 clearances, three tackles, five recoveries and 11 duels won.
The entire Cape Verde team gave their all once again, and while they will be frustrated at the chances they missed to seal a first-ever World Cup win, another draw proved to be enough for an odds-smashing, historic progression to the round of 32. The Blue Sharks are the first nation to progress to the World Cup knockout rounds with three draws since Chile in 1998, and absolutely nobody will begrudge them it.
Saudi Arabia suffer more group stage frustration
While there were tears of joy for Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia were left sobbing for a very different reason.
This was the Green Falcons’ seventh attempt at this tournament, and after they raised eyebrows in 2022 by beating eventual champions Argentina in the group stage, there was plenty of hope that they could at least sneak through as one of the best third-place teams.
The Saudis had their moments again at this tournament, not least taking the lead against Uruguay in their opening match, before eventually drawing 1-1.
However, they were utterly dismantled against Spain, and failed to score another goal at the tournament following Abdulelah Al Amri’s strike against Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Georgios Donis was simply unable to find the attacking dynamism required to progress in a World Cup, with Saudi Arabia falling upon Cape Verde’s rock-solid defence in Houston on Saturday morning. A couple of chances here and there aside, they rarely looked like they were going to grab the goal needed to go through.
Saudi Arabia have now exited in the group stage in each of their last six World Cup campaigns since reaching the round of 16 on debut in 1994.
Cape Verde seal the ultimate reward
Simply reaching the knockout rounds is beyond Cape Verde’s wildest dreams at this World Cup, but when their supporters realise what comes next, they’ll be in utter dreamland.
Cape Verde’s reward for this incredible debut effort is a clash with defending champions Argentina in Miami.
The script seems simple: Lionel Messi will turn up in the city where he plays his club football and wipe the floor with one of the ultimate World Cup minnows.
Of course, the script felt that simple for Spain and Uruguay, and look where that got them.
Nobody expects Cape Verde’s story to go any further, and even if it doesn’t, they’ve captured hearts and minds around the globe.
However, this group of players care little for the odds, and Argentina will very much be looking at their draws with Spain and Uruguay as warning signs. They cannot afford to give Cape Verde an inch, because they’re guaranteed to take a mile.
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