Cape Verde Advances to World Cup Round of 32 After 0-0 Draw With Saudi Arabia

Cape Verde secured second place in Group H with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on June 27 at NRG Stadium in Houston. The result placed the team ahead of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia and marked the first time the nation has reached the FIFA World Cup knockout rounds.

Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa with a population of approximately 530,000, became the smallest country to achieve the milestone.

Its 26-man roster featured players employed by 26 different clubs across 14 countries during the previous season, including seven in Portugal. Players accumulated 2,970 total minutes in the tournament through June 27, according to Opta data, with only 256 minutes coming from clubs ranked in the global top 100.

Left back Sidny Cabral of Benfica logged 166 minutes and left winger Willy Semedo of Omonia Nicosia logged 90.

Goalkeeper Vozinha, a free agent after the 2025-26 season in Portugal's second division, said after the match: "I don't think any of us dreamed of this. But we know we have a lot of quality. Qualifying for the next round today is extremely rewarding for us.

Midfielder Deroy Duarte, who plays for Ludogorets Razgrad in Bulgaria, described the moment the team confirmed advancement while watching Spain's result against Uruguay: "I almost wanted to cry. Everybody was just waiting and praying and hoping that the result was good. [Something] I've never felt on the pitch.

Other contributors on the roster include defender Diney of Al Bataeh in the UAE, defender Pico of Shamrock Rovers in Ireland, forward Ryan Mendes of Idgir in Turkey, midfielder Jamiro Monteiro of PEC Zwolle in the Netherlands, and forward Hélio Varela of Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. Cape Verde gained independence from Portugal in 1975 and joined FIFA in 1986.