Blue Sharks punch their ticket to the 2026 World Cup
Monday’s 2026 Fifa World Cup qualification across Africa saw Cape Verde secure their first-ever appearance at the global tournament, after they claimed an emphatic 3-0 win over Eswatini in one of eight matches played across the continent.
🚨🏆 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 | Cape Verde have QUALIFIED for the 2026 World Cup! 🇨🇻✅
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) October 13, 2025
Absolutely historic moment. It's the first time they have ever qualified for the World Cup.
Cape Verde will be the second smallest nation to ever feature in the competition (after Iceland in 2018). pic.twitter.com/XlRpQgzHSe
Needing a victory at the National Stadium in Praia to guarantee top spot in Group D, the Blue Sharks endured a frustrating first 45 minutes in which nerves and a lack of attacking rhythm characterised their play.
However, they broke the deadlock early in the second half via Dailon Rocha Livramento and soon doubled their advantage through Willy Semedo. From then on, it was a celebratory party for Cape Verde and their supporters, and the mood was lifted even further in injury time when beloved veteran Stopira added a third to complete the scoring.
🚨 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋: Cape Verde 🇨🇻 have qualified for the 2026 World Cup for the 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝑯𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀 🤩
— 433 (@433) October 13, 2025
With a population of just 590,000 they are also the second smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup finals (after Iceland) - what an… pic.twitter.com/zxgLDiXDxu
Elsewhere in Group D, Cameroon were held to a goalless draw in Yaounde by Angola. The Indomitable Lions would have been hoping to win in order to put at least some pressure on Cape Verde, but instead they ended up dropping two crucial points, which could hurt them when the rankings for the runners-up are finalised on Tuesday.
The early evening on Monday also saw a goalless stalemate between Mauritius and Libya in a Group D dead-rubber, while Group C’s basement dwellers Zimbabwe suffered a fifth defeat after they fell 1-0 at the hands of Lesotho in Polokwane, with a late goal from Hlompho Kalake.
NEAR-PERFECT RECORD
In the afternoon block of matches, already-qualified Tunisia ensured that they wrapped up Group H with a near-perfect record of nine wins from 10 matches and zero goals conceded, as they defeated Namibia 3-0 at the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium. Ali Abdi, Hannibal Mejbri and Ferjani Sassi netted for the Carthage Eagles.
At the same time, Sao Tome and Principe claimed just their second-ever World Cup qualifying win, as they defeated Malawi 1-0 in neutral Sousse (courtesy of a penalty from Ronaldo Lumungo), Equatorial Guinea and Liberia drew 1-1 in Malabo (goals from Federico Bikoro and Nicholas Andrews respectively), and a Group B dead-rubber between South Sudan and Togo ended 0-0 in Juba.
Matchday 10, and the group stage as a whole, will conclude with 11 fixtures across Africa on Tuesday, 14 October, headlined by Senegal and Ivory Coast chasing automatic qualification, while Group C will go down to the wire between Benin, Nigeria and South Africa.
2026 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS (CAF/AFRICA)
Results, Monday 13 October
South Sudan 0-0 Togo
Tunisia 3-0 Namibia
Equatorial Guinea 1-1 Liberia
Sao Tome & Principe 1-0 Malawi
Mauritius 0-0 Libya
Cameroon 0-0 Angola
Cape Verde 3-0 Eswatini
Lesotho 1-0 Zimbabwe
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