Cape Verde at the FIFA World Cup
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Cape Verde will appear in the finals of the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2026. On 13 October 2025, they qualified for the finals for the first time after 3–0 victory over Eswatini.[1][2] By the time of their qualification, Cape Verde was highlighted as the smallest country by land area and the second least populated country to qualify for the World Cup, with a land area of 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 sq mi) and a population of just under 525,000.[3][4] However, the qualification of Curaçao a month later meant that Cape Verde would now become the second-smallest country by land area and the third least-populated.[5]
Records
[edit]| FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | ||
| 1930 to 1974 | Part of Portugal | Part of Portugal | |||||||||||||||
| 1978 and 1982 | Not a member of FIFA | Not a member of FIFA | |||||||||||||||
| 1986 to 1998 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
  2002
|
Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||
 2006
|
12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 16 | |||||||||||
 2010
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||||
 2014
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 7 | |||||||||||
 2018
|
8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 13 | |||||||||||
 2022
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | |||||||||||
   2026
|
Qualified | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | ||||||||||
   2030
|
To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
 2034
| |||||||||||||||||
| Total | — | 1/10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 50 | 22 | 8 | 20 | 52 | 57 | ||
Tournaments
[edit]2026 FIFA World Cup
[edit]Group stage
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 |  Cape Verde
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Saudi Arabia
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 |  Uruguay
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
First match(es) will be played: June 15, 2026. Source: FIFA
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "World Cup 2026 qualifying: Cape Verde make history as second-smallest qualifier". BBC Sport. October 13, 2025.
- ^ "Cape Verde 3-0 Eswatini: Blue Sharks reach World Cup finals for first time". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
- ^ Stevens, Rob (13 October 2025). "Cape Verde become second-smallest nation to reach World Cup". BBC. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
- ^ "Cabo Verde seal historic World Cup qualification". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
- ^ Pannell, Alfie (19 November 2025). "Curaçao to Cape Verde: Small nations make big World Cup history". NPR.