Overview
Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia will enter the decisive match in Group H of the 2026 World Cup with the goal of winning tickets to the 1/16 round.
Despite having only about 530,000 people, Cabo Verde is creating a big surprise right in their first appearance at the World Cup. Coach Bubista's team opened with a 0-0 draw against Spain, before holding Uruguay 2-2 in an exciting score chase.
Kevin Pina opened the scoring for Cabo Verde, before Uruguay reversed the score thanks to goals from Maximiliano Araujo and Agustin Canobbio. However, Helio Varela shone after coming on as a substitute to score the equalizer.
Notably, Varela only took 136 seconds from being brought onto the field to score, becoming the second fastest African player to score after coming on as a substitute in World Cup history, only behind Cameroon legend Roger Milla (84 seconds in 1994).
Through two legs, Cabo Verde faced 44 shots but only let the opponent finish on target 9 times. After keeping a clean sheet against Spain despite suffering 7 shots on target, they only received 2 shots on target against Uruguay and both turned into goals conceded.
If they do not lose to Saudi Arabia, Cabo Verde will become the third unbeaten African team in the group stage right in their first World Cup appearance, after Cameroon (1982) and Senegal (2002). If the match ends in a draw, they will also join the group of teams that drew all 3 of the first matches at the World Cup including Wales (1958), Cameroon (1982) and the Republic of Ireland (1990).
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia still has a chance to advance after drawing 1-1 with Uruguay in the opening match. However, the Asian representative suffered a heavy 0-4 defeat to Spain in the second match.
Lamine Yamal opened the score very early before Mikel Oyarzabal scored a double. Hassan Altambakti's own goal then closed a forgettable match day for the Asian representative.
Since the 1994 World Cup, where they won 2 out of 3 group stage matches, Saudi Arabia has only won two more in the next 18 World Cup matches (3 draws, 13 losses).
The West Asian team is also facing many problems in defense when they have conceded 49 goals after 21 matches at the World Cup and failed to keep a clean sheet in 18 consecutive matches. Only Mexico, South Korea and Switzerland have reached the 50-goal mark faster in the history of the tournament.
According to Opta statistics (since 1966), Saudi Arabia has the lowest goal difference between the number of shots taken (221) and the number of shots faced (423) in World Cup history (-202). At the 2026 World Cup alone, they only launched 10 shots but had to endure 49 shots from opponents.
In the upcoming match, Salem Al Dawsari is likely to make his ninth appearance at the World Cup, thereby rising to second place in the list of players who have worn Saudi Arabia's jersey the most at the biggest football festival on the planet, only behind goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Deayea (10 matches).
Head-to-head record
This will be the first time Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia have faced each other in an official match.
Saudi Arabia has a fairly impressive record against African representatives at the World Cup when they have only lost 1 in their last 5 encounters (2 wins, 2 draws). Their only defeat was a 0-1 defeat to Cameroon at the 2002 World Cup.
Score prediction: Cabo Verde 0-1 Saudi Arabia
The match between Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia takes place at 7:00 AM on June 27 (Vietnam time).
