Last minute
The week could not start in a more lively way for the Portuguese-speaking world of football. In the final qualifying round, the ‘blue sharks’ received and beat the Essuatini team and sealed their qualification for next year’s World Championship.
The island country stopped, this Monday, to watch the most important football match in its history. The team from the Portuguese-speaking country, with just over 500 thousand inhabitants, faced and beat the national team from Essuatini 3-0 this Monday. It’s a party day in Cape Verde. The ‘blue sharks’ are going to the World Cup!
The long-awaited day has arrived. This Monday, the local government granted a period of tolerance so that Cape Verdeans could support their national heroes.
And, on the field, the players did not disappoint.
Given the fragile selection ofand Essuatini, last placed in group D, and with the home advantage in their favor, Cape Verde team started to win at the beginning of the second half, at minute 48, through Dailon Deliverance, player who plays in Casa Pia, who took advantage of a poor approach from the opposing defense to open the scoring.
An immediate explosion of joy at the National Stadium, in the city of Praia, which was bursting at the seams. Nobody wanted to be left out of this great party.
Dominating since minute one, the Cape Verdeans, who entered with more energy in the second half, wanted to sentence the match in the first few minutes after returning to the pitch.
At 54 minutes, Willy Livramento hit the ground runningafter a header at the second post, and put to rest any doubts that there were about the qualification of the ‘tuberons blues’ at the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
But there was still more to tell. At 90+1, veteran Stopira, who had already announced his farewell to the national team, sealed the result. There was no better way to end his international career.
Clearance started in 2023
It was on 11/16/2023, against a sister country, Angola, that the Cape Verdeans began their glorious journey. But the first result did not predict what was to come. The two countries shared the points (0-0), but in the second round the situation changed. Cape Verde beat Essuatini 2-0, a victory that fueled the hope of being in the World Cup.
