Cape Verde at the World Cup 2026: Squad, fixtures, group and history

Cape Verde are making a historic first appearance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hoping to impress and go as far as possible.

The Blue Sharks have already become one of the stories of the competition, earning admiration across the football world for their remarkable rise and fearless performances on the international stage.

Group H Overview

Cape Verde have been drawn in a challenging Group H alongside Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.

Despite being considered outsiders, the African nation will believe they can compete after their impressive qualifying campaign and strong recent form heading into the tournament.

Group H Teams

Spain
Uruguay
Saudi Arabia
Cape Verde

Cape Verde Fixtures at World Cup 2026

Cape Verde will begin their historic World Cup journey against European giants Spain before facing Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in their remaining group matches.

Fixtures

Spain vs Cape Verde – Monday, 15 June 2026 – Atlanta Stadium
Uruguay vs Cape Verde – Sunday, 21 June 2026 – Miami Stadium
Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia – Friday, 26 June 2026 – Houston Stadium

Cape Verde World Cup History

The 2026 FIFA World Cup marks Cape Verde’s first-ever appearance at football’s biggest tournament.

Their qualification represented one of the most remarkable achievements in modern African football history.

Cape Verde became the smallest country by land area ever to qualify for a FIFA World Cup at the time of qualification, with a territory covering just 4,033 square kilometres and a population of under 525,000 people.

They also became the second least populated nation to qualify for the tournament after Iceland, before Curaçao later broke both records by qualifying for the same edition of the World Cup.

The achievement highlighted the rapid growth of football in the island nation and established Cape Verde as one of Africa’s emerging football forces.

Cape Verde Final Squad for World Cup 2026

Goalkeepers

Josimar Dias “Vozinha”
Márcio Rosa
CJ dos Santos

Defenders

Diney Borges
Sidny Lopes Cabral
Logan Costa
Steven Moreira
Wagner Pina
João Paulo Fernandes
Roberto “Pico” Lopes
Kelvin Pires
Ianique Tavares “Stopira”

Midfielders

Telmo Arcanjo
Laros Duarte
Deroy Duarte
Jamiro Monteiro
Kevin Pina
Yannick Semedo

Forwards

Ryan Mendes (Captain)
Willy Semedo
Garry Rodrigues
Jovane Cabral
Nuno Da Costa
Dailon Livramento
Gilson Benchimol
Hélio Varela