Cape Verde has once again captured the world’s attention with its remarkable World Cup journey.
Their debut turned even more extraordinary on Friday as they clinched a spot in the tournament’s round of 32. A hard-fought 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia paved the way for an unexpected showdown with reigning champions Argentina in Miami.
In a historic moment, Cape Verde has shattered records by becoming the first team in 20 years new to the World Cup to progress to the knockout rounds, and they stand as the third-smallest nation to ever qualify. This achievement also marks them as the tiniest country to advance beyond the group stage.
Situated in the Atlantic Ocean off Africa’s western coast, the small island nation, home to approximately 500,000 inhabitants, maintained composure in their Saturday (AEST) match against Saudi Arabia.
With three draws, Cape Verde secured second place in their group, trailing behind leader Spain. Meanwhile, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia saw their World Cup journeys come to an end.
After the final whistle, Cape Verde’s players and staff huddled over their phones and broke out in celebration when the other match in the group ended, generating a roar from their supporters who banged on drums having cheered their team on all night.
Many players lingered on the pitch after most of the supporters had exited Houston stadium as they took pictures, draped themselves in flags and absorbed the historic moment for their tiny nation.
The match itself was low on quality as Cape Verde looked the more likely to score throughout but lacked composure in the final third, spurning a clutch of clear-cut chances including a Laros Duarte miss when one-on-one with goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais.
Both sides started brightly knowing a potential ticket to the round of 32 was on the line but neither found much success during an opening period marred by poor passes and mistimed tackles.
An early chance fell to Willy Semedo after he cut in from the left flank and fired off a shot from a tight angle as the Africans gradually stepped up the pressure and grabbed hold of the match following a cagey opening.
Saudi Arabia produced their first attempt on target in first-half stoppage time when Mohamed Kanno directed a header straight at Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, whose mother was watching in the stands having arrived late to the tournament due to the cost of a US visa.
Cape Verde started the second half looking like the only team hunting for a goal but despite producing 15 attempts could not convert a number of clear chances as Saudi Arabia struggled to mount an attack.
Saudi Arabia exited the tournament meekly, having scored a single goal in their three games and never looked like adding to their tally in Houston in a display that lacked ambition for the most part.
Iran and Egypt swallow their pride in Seattle
Meanwhile, Iran were deprived of a certain place in the World Cup knockout phase when a goal in stoppage time that would have given them a 2-1 win against Egypt was disallowed.
Shoja Khalilzadeh thought he had scored the crucial winning goal as he slammed into the net after Egyptian defenders failed to clear, but Iranian celebrations were cut short after VAR deemed there was offside.
The final whistle sounded soon afterwards, leaving white-shirted Iranian players sprawled on the turf in disbelief.
With three points, Iran still has a chance to qualify as one of the eight best third-placed teams.
The Egyptians learned before the game that they were qualified for the last 32 for the first time in their history due to results elsewhere, but that took nothing away from a ferocious match in Seattle.
The game also coincided with Pride Week, an event celebrated in the city since 1974. The match was nominated as a Pride event by Seattle city authorities long before the World Cup draw was made.
When the FIFA computer had finished compiling the fixtures, the two countries that ended up playing in the Pride Match were certainly not what the Seattle city organisers had hoped for.
It has caused tensions at the World Cup, with Iranian and Egyptian officials both raising objections to the Pride celebrations around their fixture.
Homosexuality is illegal in Iran under Islamic law and can be punishable by death. In Egypt, homosexuality is often penalised under vaguely worded laws prohibiting “debauchery”.
Both teams’ coaches refused to be drawn on their opinion of the event in their pre-match press conferences.
Spain through to 32
Spain beat Uruguay 1-0 on Friday to top Group H and reach the World Cup knockout stage, with Alex Baena’s first-half strike proving decisive as Marcelo Bielsa’s side exited the tournament.
Spain struggled to breach Uruguay’s solid backline before Alex Baena broke the deadlock just before halftime, firing a shot that goalkeeper Fernando Muslera fumbled into his own net.
Uruguay replaced Muslera at halftime after his costly error, but despite piling on the pressure, they could not beat Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon, who denied Mathias Olivera and Nicolas de la Cruz, while Ferran Torres hit the crossbar at the other end.
Spain finished with seven points from two wins and a draw.
It was the Ousmane Dembélé show in France v Norway
It was supposed to be the Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé show in the France v Norway match this morning, but fans ended up with a different piece of theatre.
The sold-out 64,000 crowd at Boston stadium paid to see two of the greatest strikers of their generation fight it out, but ended up with a one-man show.
France’s striker Ousmane Dembélé tore up the script, delivering a mesmerising first-half performance crowned with his first World Cup hat-trick, only the third French player to achieve the feat in the tournament’s 96-year history, as his team swept a second-string Norway team aside 4-1.
Last year’s Ballon d’Or winner struck three times in a free-flowing game, with Norway, also assured of a spot in the Round of 32 after finishing second, heavily rotating their starting lineup and leaving Haaland on the bench.
That mattered little for France, who hit the bar through Mbappé 25 seconds into the game and showed they meant business.
It was a few minutes later that 29-year-old Dembélé opened his account. By the end of the first half the Paris St Germain striker and back-to-back Champions League winner had silenced his critics with a hat-trick in a span of 25 minutes.
Dembélé, a world champion in 2018, had not scored a World Cup goal in his two previous tournaments in 2018 and 2022 and a total of 11 matches at the finals, prompting many to question his ability to deliver on the big stage for the national team, and pointing to his lack of consistency and efficiency when playing for his country instead of his club.
His overall record for France was equally unimpressive, with eight goals in 61 internationals prior to Saturday’s match.
But Dembélé proved his worth with a goal against Iraq in France’s second group game before adding the three on Saturday, taking his tally at the tournament to four — as many as Mbappé and one less than leading scorer Lionel Messi of Argentina.
Dembélé also joined France great Just Fontaine and Mbappé as the only French players to have scored at least three goals in a World Cup match. His three goals in the first 32 minutes of the game was also the second-earliest hat-trick in a World Cup behind Austria’s Erich Probst in 1954 (24 minutes).
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Dembélé’s treble will, however, do more than just go into World Cup record books.
It sent an ominous warning to fellow title contenders that France now have goal threats that go well beyond Mbappé. With Dembélé discovering his World Cup scoring form just before the knockout stage, France look to be the team to beat.
Both France and Norway have already qualified for the knockout stage.
Senegal’s emphatic 5-0 victory
Senegal kept their World Cup knockout hopes alive in dominant fashion on Friday with a 5-0 victory over 10-man Iraq, who have been eliminated from the tournament.
Survival was on the line as both sides entered the match needing to win, preferably by a large margin, to stay in the hunt for one of the last eight spots in the round of 32.
Senegal struck in the fourth minute after Lamine Camara hooked a corner into the box and Abdoulaye Seck’s downward header grazed off the boot of teammate Habib Diarra to send the ball up and over Iraq keeper Ahmed Basil.
More trouble followed for Iraq when defender Rebin Sulaka pulled a goalward-bound Sadio Mane down on the edge of the box. After a VAR check for a possible red card, Sulaka was given his marching orders by English referee Anthony Taylor.
Despite being down a man, Iraq were brave in attack in the first half and Senegal failed to capitalise on the advantage, with long-range efforts from Ismail Jakobs and Mane sailing wide.
It rained goals in the second half, however, as Senegal came out with more urgency and conviction.
Ismaila Sarr bagged his fourth career World Cup goal from close range to become his country’s all-time leading scorer in the tournament and substitute Pape Gueye unleashed two rockets from distance to send Senegal’s army of fans into raptures.
Iliman Ndiaye added another long-range strike to cap off Senegal’s five-star performance, and their green-clad supporters began to chant “Senegal! Senegal!” as the clock wound down.
Senegal finished third in Group I with three points, behind France and Norway. Iraq finished fourth with zero points.
The African side must wait until the group stage ends on Saturday to see if they are one of the eight best third-placed teams who will advance to the round of 32.
— With reporting by the Reuters news agency and Agence-France Presse.
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