🇨🇻 Cape Verde could be the 2026 World Cup's Iceland

The Blue Sharks are just one result from their first-ever World Cup!

Only 500,000 people live in Cape Verde, spread across the 10 volcanic islands that make up the archipelago off Africa’s west coast.

The Cape Verdean league is only semi-professional. Until 2002, the national team hadn’t even played a full qualification campaign for a major tournament.

For years, Cape Verde simply didn’t have enough players to field a national team.

Yet the Blue Sharks have all but secured their place at the 2026 World Cup. A win at home to Eswatini on Monday will officially get them over the line.

Cape Verde’s qualification would be the World Cup’s greatest underdog story since Iceland made it to Russia 2018. This hasn’t happened by accident, though.

The Blue Sharks have followed a process.