Cape Verde will play in a World Cup for the first time after beating Eswatini 3-0 on Monday to win its group in African qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
The archipelago of volcanic islands off the west coast of Africa earned one of nine automatic spots for the continent. It will be the second smallest country by population to participate in the tournament after Iceland in 2018.
Dailon Livramento scored in the 48th minute, Willy Semedo in the 54th and Stopira in injury time to secure the local victory and first place in Group D.
The Blue Sharks finished with four points more than Cameroon, who could not achieve more than 0-0 against Angola at home.
Cape Verde, a nation of approximately 525,000 people, came in needing a win and could have qualified even with a loss, as long as Cameroon did not defeat Angola.
The nine group winners automatically qualify for the World Cup. The four best second-ranked teams will play a mini-tournament of two semi-finals and a final in November. Cameroon can still advance as runners-up.
The winner of the playoffs advances to the FIFA playoff tournament against opponents from Asia, CONCACAF, South America and Oceania.
Tickets for the Cape Verde match sold out in record time, according to FIFA, and the government declared a half-day holiday across the country so people could watch the match.
The 2026 World Cup is the first with an expanded field of 48 teams, up from 32.
In the other match in Group D, Mauritius and Libya tied 0-0. In Group C, Lesotho defeated Zimbabwe 1-0 at home.
Ali Abdi converted a penalty in the 28th minute and Hannibal Mejbri and Ferjani Sassi added goals in the second half.
Tunisia won Group H with 28 points from 10 games. They finished 13 points ahead of second-place Namibia.
Also in Group H, Equatorial Guinea drew with Liberia 1-1 at home, while bottom-placed Sao Tome and Principe beat Malawi 1-0 for their first win in the group.
In Group B, South Sudan drew 0-0 with visiting Togo.
On Sunday, Ghana, a 2010 quarterfinalist, became the fifth African nation to qualify, joining Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco in next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
