Cape Verde coach Bubista urged his players to overcome their nerves in Monday night’s crunch qualifier against Eswatini and seize the chance to advance to the World Cup for the first time.
His Group D pacesetters take on the pool makeweights at the Estadio Nacional in Praia.
Victory in front of the 15,000 partisans will guarantee Cape Verde one of the nine berths from Africa for the first World Cup to feature 48 teams.
A draw or defeat could leave the Cape Verdean dream in tatters should second-placed Cameroon overcome Angola in Yaoundé.
“The game against Eswatini will be the biggest game ever for the Cape Verde national team,” said Bubista as his squad went through its final paces ahead of the tie.
“It’s a game that’s extremely important for the country and, above all, for the players.
“Of course they want to beat Eswatini and write a new page in the history of football in the country,” added the 55-year-old former Cape Verde international.
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Cape Verde attempt to emulate Iceland
Success would make Cape Verde – a nation of just over 550,000 people – the second smallest country after Iceland to reach the World Cup tournament since its inception in 1930.
Iceland’s exploit came in 2018 in Russia where they were eliminated after the group stages. That tournament featured 32 teams.
But the extravaganza in the United States, Mexico and Canada has swelled to accommodate the nine African sides.
Europe will provide 16 teams and the other 23 will come from South America, North America, Asia and Oceania.
“We must not change our style of play,” added Bubista. “We have to respect Eswatini and try to be the best team on the pitch.”
Cape Verde could have booked their ticket last Friday against Libya. But they could only manage a 3-3 draw in Tripoli. Cameroon won 2-0 against Mauritius to cut Cape Verde’s lead to two points.
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'Early goal will calm the nerves'
“Of course an early goal will calm the nerves,” said Bubista. “But we must not be so eager to score it that we forget our defensive duties. The players must be aware of the temptations.”
On Sunday night, Ghana became the fifth team from Africa to advance to the 2026 World Cup. They wrapped up Group I with a 1-0 win over Comoros at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mohamed Kudus struck just after half-time for the hosts.
Madagascar went down 4-1 in Mali to finish second with 19 points and will wait until the final round of qualifiers are completed to see if they will progress to the African play-offs for a place in the intercontinental play-offs in March for a berth in next summer's football fest.
