The Vozinha-led Cape Verdean national football team received a hero’s welcome on their return to the nation’s capital, Praia, following a dream run at the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026. Cape Verde were minutes away from taking defending champions Argentina to penalties, but a 111th-minute strike, which was inadvertently deflected into his own net by Diney, resulted in heartbreak for the tiny African nation. However, captain Vozinha and his players bowed out with their heads held high, having held three former world champions – Spain, Uruguay, and Argentina – in 90 minutes.
On Sunday, as the players were about to land in the capital city of Praia, thousands were already waiting at the airport, ready to welcome their national heroes.
Como heroes! Asi recibieron a la seleccion de Cabo Verde en el aeropuerto.
pic.twitter.com/nEqgRV1q80— Joaquin Lopez-Doriga (@lopezdoriga) July 5, 2026
An airport official even bowed and saluted the players. It was a complete party atmosphere in Praia, with the squad also hitting the streets to celebrate their World Cup dream run.
Cape Verdean players took to the streets of Praia to celebrate their nation’s historic 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with jubilant fans. pic.twitter.com/ZPDpOsbEVW
— DEK360Ghana (@Dek360Ghana) July 5, 2026
Cape Verde went 0-1-3 in its four matches at its inaugural World Cup, which won’t look great on paper. More than two-thirds of the 48 teams in this tournament won at least one game; Cape Verde wasn’t one of them.
But the record simply doesn’t tell the whole story.
It played Spain to a scoreless draw to open the group stage, making the chance of advancing to the knockout stage very real. There were two more ties in group play – a 2-2 tie against Uruguay that put Cape Verde on the brink of advancing, then a 0-0 tie against Saudi Arabia that was good enough to get the round of 32 trip secured.
Argentina’s players and coaches, to their credit, insisted they did not expect a cakewalk past Cape Verde. And when the match was over, Messi – generally considered to be the greatest player of all time – had nothing but compliments for the underdog opponent.
(With AP Inputs)
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