PREVIEW: Cape Verde hope to defy the odds on World Cup debut | OneFootball

Cape Verde qualifying for the 2026 World Cup is nothing short of a footballing fairy-tale.

With a population of around 500,000, nobody gave the small African nation a chance of making this year’s competition, even with its historic expansion to feature 48 teams.

But despite the odds, the Blue Sharks topped a tough group featuring continental heavyweights Cameroon and qualified for the first time in the 51 years since declaring independence from Portugal.

In doing so, head coach Pedro ‘Bubista’ Brito’s men became the smallest nation by land area, and second smallest by population, to reach football’s showpiece event before Curaçao broke both records five weeks later.

Dalion Livramento – no relation to Newcastle full-back Tino – was instrumental to their success during that historic campaign, his four goals leading the way among his teammates.

Defender Diney, midfielder Jamiro Monteiro, and winger Willy Semedo also made major contributions by netting two apiece.

Although the West Africans are debutants at this year’s World Cup, tournament football is nothing new having made four outings at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

They have gone as far as the quarter finals in two additions, falling to four-time champions Ghana in 2013 and suffering an agonising defeat to South Africa on penalties a decade later.

They also reached the knockout stages in 2021, losing 2-0 to Senegal in the round of 16.

That competitive experience will be needed if Bubista’s squad are to progress from a tricky Group H, where they are set to face 2010 world champions Spain and fellow two-time winners Uruguay, as well as Saudi Arabia four years after beating Argentina in the group stage to shock the world back in 2022.

Given Uruguay have underwhelmed under Marcelo Bielsa the draw is kinder than it would’ve been a decade ago, but it still represents a baptism of fire for a team who have never previously reached this level.

Like fellow debutants Haiti and Curaçao, international recruitment has been central to the Blue Sharks success.

Semedo and centre back Logan Costa were born in France, and Monteiro and Livramento are from the Netherlands. Costa’s fellow centre back Pico was born in Dublin while midfielder Telmo Arcanjo hails from Portugal.

But for all their deluge of foreign-born talent the Crioulos also possess a strong homegrown core. Captain and record goalscorer Ryan Mendes was born on the island alongside first-choice goalkeeper and vice-captain Vozinha.

Jovane Cabral is the national team’s most recognisable name, having featured for Sporting Lisbon in the Primera Liga.

Cape Verde now have the world’s attention, and despite being overwhelming underdogs in one of 2026’s hardest groups are under no pressure to spring a shock in what has already been a historic year for the nation.