The island nation off the coast of Africa will become the second smallest country to qualify for soccer’s global exhibition.
Published October 14, 2025
Cape Verde defeated Eswatini 3-0 in their final group game on Monday to take the lead ahead of Cameroon, ending a fairy-tale campaign.
The wind-swept West African Islands overcame a tense first half to win in the capital Praia with second-half goals from Dairon Livramento, Willy Semedo and veteran Stopira, and booked their place in the final for the first time.
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They started with a two-point lead over Cameroon, which has reached the World Cup finals the most in the past eight times as an African nation. Cape Verde finished Group D with 23 points, four points ahead of Cameroon, who held a goalless draw with Angola at home.
About 25 years ago, Cape Verde barely played international soccer, but now they are one of nine African teams competing in next year’s North American finals.
They join Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Ghana, who have already qualified.
Libramento took advantage of Eswatini’s failure to clear three minutes into the second half and slotted the ball into the goal from close range, while Semedo also scored a tap-in six minutes later.
Stopira, 37, had just come on as a substitute to celebrate his long service to the team since 2008, and his stoppage-time goal was a big win.
The island’s 600,000 residents had been given the day off to cheer on their team, but there was little cheer during the tentative first half until Libramento scored. After that, the celebrations became uncontrollable.
Cape Verde is the second smallest country to qualify for the World Cup, after Iceland, which participated in the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Cameroon are likely to advance to the play-offs for the top four of the nine African qualifying groups, but were jeered in Yaounde after failing to beat Angola, whose 39-year-old goalkeeper Hugo Marquez made a number of crucial stops.
