Miracle or ritual?: How Cape Verde marked the World Cup's biggest shock | OneFootball

You have to look at the map to understand the scale of the miracle. Ten volcanic islands lost in the Atlantic Ocean, just over 500,000 inhabitants, and a humble Cape Verde that makes history in World Cup history. The Cape Verde national team ended up shattering every prediction in modern football and made it into the top 32 of the World Cup.

What is being experienced in the streets of its capital, Praia, and in every corner of the African archipelago is only the beginning of a national celebration that promises to last for days.

Call it a miracle, a heroic feat, or some kind of African ritual. The truth is that this team, which many of us had written off before even seeing it play, ended up being the biggest surprise of this World Cup. And no, it didn’t win, but it didn’t lose either; and that was enough for it to qualify in second place from Group H. Now it will play none other than the reigning World Cup champions.

This is how Cape Verde is celebrating its historic qualification at the World Cup.

Cape Verde had never played in a World Cup before, but it held favored Spain to a draw, grew in confidence, and then earned a huge point against Uruguay and another against Saudi Arabia. An unthinkable and dreamlike World Cup for this team.

Fate, whimsical and beautiful, decreed that the humble African side would have to pack its bags for Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to face none other than the Argentina national team. David versus Goliath, which, far from intimidating the Cape Verdeans, only fuels the delirium of a people who already feel they have won their own World Cup.

By Jonas Reinglestein

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.