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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Isaac Stacey Stronge

Who will Cape Verde face in the next round?

Cape Verde Kevin Pina World Cup Uruguay the Blue Sharks
Cape Verde's midfielder #06 Kevin Pina celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the 2026 World Cup Group H football match between Uruguay and Cape Verde.

Cape Verde are in dreamland so far in World Cup 2026.

They kicked things off with a draw against former champions Spain, and managed to score their first two World Cup goals against Uruguay to bag another point.

It leaves them weighing up the possibility of knockout football, but who could they face?

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Who could Cape Verde face in the knockout rounds of World Cup 2026?

Kevin Pina scored Cape Verde's first-ever World Cup goal (Image credit: Getty Images)

Thanks to goals from Kevin Pina and Helio Varela – plus the opening up of qualification for the best third-placed teams – the Blue Sharks have a good chance of going through to the next round.

But they look set to face some tough opposition.

According to the BBC’s tournament bracket predictor, as things stand, with Cape Verde in third, they’d be set to face Mexico.

That may seem a kind-ish draw for a knockout game, but it must not be forgotten that Mexico would be playing that match on home soil, in front of their own fans, at the incredible altitude of the Azteca.

However, it’s all very tight in Group H – Uruguay and Cape Verde are currently on the same points, and could feasibly swap round in the final group stage game.

Such a switch would currently see the small island nation face Lionel Messi’s Argentina, back at the Hard Rock Stadium where they drew with Uruguay.

While Mexico probably offers a marginally better chance of progressing, the opportunity to play against one of the game’s best-ever players would be very attractive.

Moreover, with their draw against Spain, the Blue Sharks have already shown they can face up to any side.

In the unlikely event that Cape Verde top the group – which would require Uruguay to beat Spain, and the Blue Sharks to beat Saudi Arabia by a larger margin – they could face off against Austria, as things stand.

With a final round of group stage fixtures to go, a lot could still change, but it’s not too early for Cape Verde to begin dreaming.

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