Shock at the World Cup. The country, which has half a million inhabitants, won a sensational promotion. The Spaniards struggled at the end of the group – 2026 FIFA World Cup – Football

The Cape Verdean footballers advanced to the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada when they also scored in their third appearance at the tournament. The newcomers to the world championship drew 0:0 with Saudi Arabia on Saturday night in Houston and 3 points are enough for the 2nd place in the H-group.

Uruguay lost to Spain 0:1 in a match played in parallel and with 2 points took the 3rd place in terms of score ahead of Saudi Arabia.

Cape Verde, which has just over half a million inhabitants, will play in the round of 16 on July 4 at 0:00 CEST in Miami against Argentina.

The Cape Verdeans entered the final duel in the group as an undefeated team, although they had previously faced Spain and Uruguay.

Against the most acceptable opponent on paper, they nourished real hope for a sensational advance to the elimination phase.

Saudi Arabia’s goal was threatened for the first time in the 22nd minute, but Al-Owais managed to save Willy Semed’s shot from an angle.

Coach Bubista’s men had more of a game in the first half and the active Semedo missed the goal in the 42nd minute from outside the penalty area.

The Saudis only threatened in stoppage time of the first half, but the former goalkeeper of AS Trenčín Vozinha dealt with Kanna’s header.

The first shooting attempts after the change of sides belonged to the Cape Verdeans, and in the 50th minute, Kevin Pina tried it from a distance, while he did not miss the goal by much.

Given the Spanish lead over Uruguay, Saudi Arabia needed to score, but Cape Verde kept the ball and did not let the opponent into dangerous opportunities.

Even Abu Al-Shamat’s shot in the 67th minute did not cause problems for Vozin.

After a refreshment break, the Cape Verdeans could open the scoring after a counterattack. Substitute Laros Duarte ran into the penalty area for an ideal pass and found himself alone in front of goalkeeper Al-Owais, who, however, neutralized the ground shot.

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The Saudis did not develop the necessary pressure even in the final minutes, but only a rare action, after which Al-Hamdan scored in the middle of Vozinha’s goal.

At the very end, Da Costa missed the open goal of Saudi Arabia with a 100% chance.

The score remained goalless, and the Cape Verdeans could celebrate their progress to the elimination phase in their first World Cup appearance when they learned the result of the meeting in Zapopan.

Voice after the match /source: AFP/:

Bubista, Cape Verde coach: “We had in our heads that we could get to this stage. We felt that the team was very eager to show it to the whole world. We are proud to have made it this far and to show the world again that we are a small country but we fight for what we want. Nothing is impossible for us.”

The suffering of the Spaniards continues

The Spanish footballers won their final match of Group H at the World Cup, beating Uruguay 1-0 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

They advanced to the round of 16 from first place and the second best team in the J-group awaits them. The two-time world champions from Uruguay were eliminated in the basic stage for the second time in a row.

The Spaniards will play their Round of 16 match on Thursday at 21.00 CEST in Inglewood. Their opponent will be one of the pairs Austria and Algeria.

In the beginning, the Spaniards, who were also in the first offensive action, had more of the game. After a quarter of an hour of the game, Yamal showed initiative, but the defense dealt with him and his offensive attempts ended in corner kicks.

Cubarsi didn’t take advantage of a bigger chance when the Uruguayan goalkeeper Muslera ran over the cross.

The reigning European champions were put in the lead in the 42nd minute by Baen, who was sent a bouncing cross by Llorente and the ball fell through goalkeeper Muslera.

After the goal, the injured Uruguayan midfielder Ugarte left on a stretcher and was replaced by De la Cruz.

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Coach Bielsa made a substitution at half-time and Muslera was replaced by Rochet. After the break, yellow cards began to pile up, until the 60th minute referee Elfath handed out three of them.

A small revival of the game came after the hydration break, when Yamal pulled the ball to the post and tried to get Olmo out of the situation after his shooting attempt.

A little later, in the 82nd minute, Uruguay’s first attempt between the three posts came.

An attempt by Oliver into the “gallows” area was deflected into Simon’s corner. On the other side, Torres threatened again when he hit the crossbar.

At the very end, the Uruguayans tried to threaten to transfer the game to the edge of the penalty area, on the second attempt they got in front of the goal and demanded a penalty, but were unsuccessful.

Their end in the tournament was sealed by a red card for striker Canobbio before the final whistle.

Alex Baena, scorer of Spain’s goal: “The truth is we knew it was going to be tough. We were playing for first place and they were playing for their lives.

Maybe it wasn’t the same game as the last time, but it was necessary to play that way. It’s probably one of the most important goals of my career.”

Marcelo Bielsa, coach of Uruguay: “I was not able to use the full potential of the Uruguayan players. By substituting Valverde, I tried to have a stronger presence in the attack.

What I gave to Uruguayan football is nothing, because any contribution of the coach to the national team is useless if there is no positive result.

If you ask me how I will be remembered, I will be remembered as someone who left nothing behind. The match was relatively balanced. We deserved a draw. We should have drawn. Performance was not a problem.’