Cabo Verde’s Draw and Spain’s Win Put the African Country Through

By Daniel Feuerstein | Houston, TX | June 26th, 2026

History was made at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup when Group H featured Cabo Verde against Saudi Arabia. In the other match in Guadalajara, Mexico, at the Estadio Akron, Uruguay was facing Spain. All match long, Cabo Verde was the aggressive side in the match, and they were smelling blood in the water. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get that goal to put themselves into the knockout stage but got help from the Spaniards to push them past the finish line, as the match against Saudi Arabia ended in a scoreless draw.

Cabo Verde is making attacking runs, but can’t hit the target.

All match long, Cabo Verde was playing inspired and with heavy hearts, looking to put their national team into the lead, and created wave after wave of attacking runs to put pressure on Saudi Arabia. While some of the shots were missed, you have to give credit to goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais for making two fabulous saves to keep his team from going behind. One goal was going to get Cabo Verde through, but it never came.

Vozinha made solid saves to keep the clean sheet

While the Saudi’s were doing very well on their end of preventing goals from going into the back of their net. Vozinha once again kept his team afloat and made some strong saves. He made three saves and stood his ground to make sure his national team would get over the finish line. He looked strong on his goal line, defending the net. He gave directions to his backline, making sure they followed their assignments and held off the Saudi’s while their attack wasn’t that strong either.

Spain scored the only goal to help Cabo Verde advance

When the final whistle blew in Houston, Cabo Verde was waiting for the news of the final whistle. Alex Baena scored the only goal of the match in the 42nd minute for Spain as they defeated Uruguay and eliminated them from advancing to the knockout stage. Once the final whistle blew in Guadalajara, Cabo Verde exploded into celebration and ran to their fans who were sitting close to their benches. Even shots of Vozinha’s mother were seen in a luxury box, waving the flag of Cabo Verde in excitement to see her son and her national team play one more game in the World Cup.

Cabo Verde will face Lionel Messi

With Cabo Verde taking second in Group H, they will face Argentina in their Round of 32 match. While they will face one of the best nations and the defending World Cup Champions, they will also face the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. Many will hope to see them have a great performance, but at the same time, this could be the end of their run. But we all know Cabo Verde will do their best to perform on the pitch. This will be the most challenging match in their history.

Cabo Verde made history by advancing to their first knockout stage match after the draw with Saudi Arabia and Spain defeating Uruguay.

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