{"id":11136,"date":"2026-06-27T09:36:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T02:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/cape-verde-qualifies-for-world-cup-knockout-stage-set-to-face-argentina\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T09:36:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T02:36:40","slug":"cape-verde-qualifies-for-world-cup-knockout-stage-set-to-face-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/cape-verde-qualifies-for-world-cup-knockout-stage-set-to-face-argentina\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Verde Qualifies for World Cup Knockout Stage, Set to Face Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cape Verde has made history by qualifying for the <a href=\"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/tag\/knockout-stage\/\" data-ailt=\"1\">knockout stage<\/a> of the World Cup after a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on June 27, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>This result, combined with Spain&#039;s 1-0 victory over Uruguay, allowed <a href=\"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/tag\/cape-verde\/\" data-ailt=\"1\">Cape Verde<\/a> to secure a second-place finish in Group H, marking a significant achievement for the team ranked 67th prior to the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The archipelago nation, which has a population of just over 500,000, will face reigning champions Argentina in Miami on July 3. Cape Verde remains unbeaten in their three group matches, finishing with three points, a remarkable feat for a debutant team.<\/p>\n<p>Spain topped Group H with seven points, while both Uruguay and Saudi Arabia were eliminated, finishing with two points each. Cape Verde&#039;s journey included a historic 0-0 draw against Spain in their opening match, followed by a thrilling 2-2 draw with Uruguay, which set the stage for their advancement.<\/p>\n<p>In the match against Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde&#039;s coach, Bubista, made several changes to the starting lineup, although he retained the experienced goalkeeper Vozinha. The 40-year-old goalkeeper played a crucial role in securing a point against Spain and continued to be a key figure in the team&#039;s defense.<\/p>\n<p>During the match in Houston, Cape Verde had a slight advantage in the first half, with Kevin Pina coming close to scoring with a long-range effort that narrowly missed the target. As the game progressed, the tension increased, but Saudi Arabia struggled to create clear scoring opportunities despite their attempts to find a breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p>In the 75th minute, Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais made a vital save to keep the match level, but Cape Verde&#039;s defense held firm throughout the game. With this draw, Cape Verde&#039;s remarkable World Cup story continues, as they prepare to face Argentina, adding another chapter to their historic debut in the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cape Verde advances to the knockout stage after a 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia, facing Argentina next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[620,622,619,354,356,621,623,431],"class_list":["post-11136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-argentina","tag-bubista","tag-cape-verde","tag-football","tag-knockout-stage","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-vozinha","tag-world-cup"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11139,"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11136\/revisions\/11139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heibola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}