FIFA WORLD CUP Second-half goals lift Cape Verde into finals for first time
PRAIA; The African minnows of Cape Verde have qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time after a 3-0 win over Eswatini ensured they finished top of their African zone group.
The West African archipelago, with a population of around 600,000, are the second smallest country in tournament history to qualify thanks to second-half goals from Dailon Livramento, Willy Semedo and veteran Stopira.
Cape Verde kicked off two points ahead of Cameroon, whose eight previous World Cup finals appearances are the most by an African country. Cape Verde finished Group D on 23 points, four ahead of Cameroon, who were held at home to a goalless draw by Angola.
Livramento took advantage of Eswatini’s failure to clear to steer home the ball from close range three minutes into the second half while Semedo also had a tap-in for the second six minutes later.
Stopira, 37, had only come on as a late substitute as an acknowledgement of his long service with the team since 2008, and put a cherry on the cake with a stoppage-time goal.
The island’s 600,000 inhabitants had been given the day off to support their team but there was little to cheer in a tentative first half before Livramento scored. After that, the celebrations could not be contained.
Cameroon will likely advance to the playoffs for the four best runners-up across the nine African qualifying groups but were jeered off in Yaounde after failure to beat Angola whose hero was 39-year-old goalkeeper Hugo Marques.
Earlier on Monday, Tunisia completed their World Cup qualifying campaign without conceding a goal as they beat Namibia 3-0 in their final Group H game. They ended the campaign unbeaten with nine wins from their 10 games, scoring 22 goals.
A first-half penalty in Tunis converted by Ali El Abdi was followed by second-half strikes from Hannibal Mejbri and captain Ferjani Sassi.
Namibia finished second in the group despite the defeat, their third in the last four qualifiers.
But they do not have enough points to finish as one of the best four group runners-up. They were 13 points adrift of Tunisia, who had already secured their place in the finals.
###
