Cape Verde

The Cape Verdean national football team received a hero’s welcome on their return to the nation’s capital, Praia, following a dream performances at the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026.

40 year old goalkeeper Vozinha has emerged as one of the tournament’s biggest success stories. Cape Verde’s debut World Cup campaign captured the imagination of football fans across the globe. 

The African nation Cape Verde failed to register a victory, but their performances were anything but disappointing.

Cape Verde are only the third smallest nation (by population) in the history of the World Cup finals — after Iceland (which played in 2018) and fellow 2026 debutants Curacao.

About Cape Verde

The Cape Verde Islands are officially called the Republic of Cabo Verde. It is an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands — nine of them inhabited — and various islets located some 450 km off the west coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Cape Verde islands were uninhabited until the Portuguese discovered it in 1456. Over the next few years, Portuguese settlers arrived and brought African slaves with them to work on plantations. 

By the 16th century, it became a hub for transatlantic slave trade.  This history meant that Cape Verdeans are of mixed African and European origin. It shows in the languages spoken there: while Portuguese is the official language, most local people also speak Crioulo, a Creole dialect based on archaic Portuguese but influenced by other languages. 

On July 5, 1975, Cape Verde’s newly elected National Assembly received the instruments of independence from Portugal.

Sources: IE

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