Published June 27, 2026
Tiny Cape Verde defied all odds and made history at the 2026 World Cup by becoming the smallest country to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Their unlikely breakthrough to the group stage, their third consecutive draw at the World Cup, ended with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Friday night to advance to the tournament.
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The man who has been keeping Cape Verde in goal has been Vosinha, a 40-year-old who embodies the country’s spirit.
“We are small but we have big hearts and we are fighters,” said the goalkeeper, who played for Chaves in Portugal’s second division last season.
The island nation off the west coast of Africa will be making their first appearance on soccer’s biggest stage, but they have already held 2010 champions Spain to a 0-0 draw and have had a shocking start to their campaign.
They then faced Uruguay, the winner of the first World Cup in 1930, and achieved a 2-2 come-from-behind victory.
“The team was very keen to show this to the whole world,” Cape Verde coach Buvista said after the Saudi Arabia match, wearing his country’s flag.
“We are proud to have reached this stage. We are a small country but we have shown that we will fight for what we want to achieve.”
Cape Verde’s three points put them in second place behind Spain, who beat Uruguay on Friday night to advance through the group stage.
Cape Verde will play reigning World Cup champions Argentina in Miami on July 3.
Draws in all three group stage games do not guarantee a place in a major soccer tournament, but some teams have done so in the past. These include Wales in 1958, Ireland and the Netherlands in 1990, and Chile in 1998. However, New Zealand also lost the 2010 World Cup with three draws.
On the eve of the match, Bubista said: “Everyone has the right to dream and nothing is impossible.”
The Blue Sharks proved him right, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds as the country of just 530,000 people reached the Round of 32.
A woman with the archipelago’s flag painted on her face held a placard that read “Small islands, big dreams.” It’s a dream realized by underdogs as they continue their fascinating run on the world stage.
Vosinha, whose success in the tournament has earned her more than 16 million followers on Instagram, did it with another strong match.
He saved Mohamed Kanno’s header in first-half stoppage time to keep Saudi Arabia scoreless. He made yet another save in the 66th minute, leaping over and deflecting a shot from Mohamed Abu Al-Shamat.
The third goal came in the 92nd minute, when he stopped Abdullah Alhamdan’s shot.
“We have a lot of quality in our national team,” Bosinha said. “Probably many people think that there are not enough players from Cape Verde, but we came here to show that we have a lot of quality and that we are here to compete and that our players can play anywhere in the big competitions and in the big leagues.”
A group of shirtless men in the crowd cheered for Cape Verde, each with one letter of his name painted on their chests.
But Vosinha’s fans were far bigger in the crowd of 68,278, as her mother Ana Candida Évora watched from her luxury suite, waving a tiny Cape Verdean flag. This was Bosinha’s second game of the tournament, after he missed his incredible seven-save performance against Spain due to visa issues.
Cape Verde had a chance to score in the 50th minute, but Kevin Pina’s shot from distance went just over the crossbar. Another chance came in the 74th minute when Lalos Duarte fired a shot from the center of the box, but goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais saved it.
The last chance to score came in the final minutes, when Nuno da Costa fired in from the center left of the box.
But it didn’t matter. Minutes after the final whistle, Spain had won against Uruguay and jubilant celebrations began among Cape Verde players and fans, many of them crying in joy.
Bubista, who led his team to new heights, was asked if he ever imagined he would do so well in the tournament.
“I have always said that Cape Verde will be on such a stage sooner or later,” he said. “Of course, it’s difficult to make such predictions, but I always knew.”
Saudi Arabia finished the group stage with two points and was eliminated.
“We were very poor in terms of creating things, controlling the game and creating action,” coach Georgios Donis said. “And you can’t win the match this way. It will be very difficult.”
