Cape Verde have booked their place as debutants at the 2026 World Cup after a 3-0 home victory over Eswatini secured top spot in their African qualifying group. With a population of just under 525,000, the tiny Atlantic island nation will become the second-smallest country by population to play at a men’s World Cup finals, behind only Iceland, who qualified in 2018. The Indomitable Lions needed to beat Angola and hope Cape Verde slipped up, but could only draw their game 0-0 in Yaoundé and must now hope to earn a playoff spot. Late substitute Stopira added a third in stoppage time to rubber-stamp qualification for a team ranked 70th in the world. Shamrock Rovers centre-back Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes started the match and kept a clean sheet, and the Dublin-born defender will be heading to the World Cup.

Source: The Irish Times October 14, 2025 06:34 UTC