They've shown us nothing is impossible: Cabo Verde are at World Cup!

In 1975 Steven Spielberg directed a movie Jaws - one of the greatest in history. The story about the great white shark terrorizing people of New England won three Academy Awards and gained worldwide fame, which lasts to this day.

However, as of today, there will be two stories about this predator fish, and who knows, perhaps one day, some new Spielberg will make a movie about a fairytale we've witnessed today, as Cabo Verde, the popular Blue Sharks, have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup!

This tiny island nation became the smallest country by area ever to participate in a FIFA World Cup, and the second smallest by population - behind only Iceland. After today's 3-0 victory over Eswatini booked them their ticket for the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean can start the party the world has never seen!

The heroes of Cabo Verde's impressive triumph were Dailon Rocha Livramento - the scorer of the winner against Cameroon - and Willy Semedo, who broke the rivals in the span of just six minutes after the break - in the 48th and 54th minutes. The 37-year-old defender Stopira put the cherry on top of his team's win in added time.

The three scorers will forever remain immortalized in golden letters in the history of sports in their homeland, as will the entire generation of the Blue Sharks' players, who achieved a mind-blowing success led by the 55-year-old tactician Pedro Leitao Brito.

Now, it's party time in Praia and the entire country, and we can suppose there's no football fan in the world who wouldn't like to spend at least a couple of hours in Cabo Verde just to feel and share the joy, excitement, delight, and euphoria of the people there.

Kudos to the Blue Sharks - you reminded us why we love football so much.

As if the pressure was too immense, the crowd at the packed Estadio Nacional de Cabo Verde in Praia saw a goalless first half. After all, the Cabo Verde government gave everyone an afternoon off, allowing them to leave work early, so that each of the around 593,000 residents of this country could watch their national team's historic day.

It's not that Pedro Leitao Brito's men didn't have chances. On the contrary, they dominated the game, but wasted all their opportunities in the opening 45 minutes, lacking peace and focus in the decisive moments.

Willy Semedo fired it over the bar just five minutes into the game, while Dailon Rocha Livramento missed the target in the 20th minute. Twenty minutes later, the hero of Cabo Verde's triumph over Cameroon hit the mark, but was prevented from scoring by the Eswatini keeper Khanyakwezwe Shabalala, as was Semedo in the dying minutes of the first period.

Not going to AFCON but are at the World Cup

However, just 126 seconds into the second half, all the Blue Sharks' misfortune was diminished, as they broke the deadlock and made a gigantic step towards the World Cup! Just like 34 days ago against Cameroon, Rocha Livramento put on a superhero cape and opened the scoring, exploiting Eswatini defence's massive mistake following the home crew's corner kick.

Once the visitors' fortress collapsed for the first time, the gates were open. Six minutes after the deadlock-breaker, it was 2-0! The fortunes again changed, this time for the other dangerous Cabo Verde player, as Semedo was the one who doubled his team's lead, passing the ball into the net from close range after a headed assist.

Following the second goal that sealed the deal and definitely bought the Blues Sharks their ticket for the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the party at the stadium started, and the game itself was a secondary matter. The home crew still controlled everything, but didn't bother to pursue more goals. It was time to enjoy. It was time to soak up all the energy from the stands and feel all the love the people of Cabo Verde were giving to their heroes down on the pitch.

Nevertheless, even that relaxed approach brought the third goal for the home team, as Stopira made it 3-0 in the dying minutes. At the same time, Cabo Verde's fiercest rivals in Group D, Cameroon, drew 0-0 to Angola, but will most likely reach the playoffs. Still, the final verdict will come tomorrow.

Monday

Equatorial Guinea - Liberia 1-1 (1-1)

/Bikoro 14 - Andrews 27/

Sao Tome - Malawi 1-0 (0-0)

/Afonso 62 pen/

South Sudan - Togo 0-0

Tunisia - Namibia 3-0 (1-0)

/Abdi 28 pen, Mejbri 55, Sassi 64/

Cameroon - Angola 0-0

Cape Verde - Eswatini 3-0 (0-0)

/Rocha Livramento 48, Semedo W. 54, Stopira 90+1/

Lesotho - Zimbabwe 1-0 (0-0)

/Kalake 90+3/

Mauritius - Libya 0-0

Tuesday

16.00: (20.0) Seychelles (13.0) Gambia (1.08)

19.00: (1.65) Algeria (3.60) Uganda (5.80)

19.00: (1.57) Guinea (3.60) Botswana (7.25)

19.00: (1.37) Nigeria (4.50) Benin (10.0)

19.00: (1.20) S.Africa (5.90) Rwanda (20.0)

19.00: (9.00) Somalia (4.80) Mozambique (1.37)

22.00: (1.28) Dr Congo (5.40) Sudan (12.0)

22.00: (1.30) Gabon (5.00) Burundi (12.0)

22.00: (1.13) Ivory Coast (8.00) Kenya (22.0)

22.00: (1.02) Morocco (15.0) Congo (95.0)

22.00: (1.15) Senegal (7.75) Mauritania (19.0)

***odds are subject to change***