A team that failed to win a single match advances to the World Cup Round of 32: Cape Verde sets a new record with '3 draws → 2nd in group'

*This content was translated by AI.

• First time in 28 years that a team has advanced from the group stage with three draws

A team has advanced to the Round of 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America with a record of three draws and no wins in the group stage. The small island nation of Cape Verde, with a population of just 520,000, is the protagonist of this historic achievement.

Making their first-ever World Cup appearance, Cape Verde drew 0-0 against Saudi Arabia in the final group stage match of Group H, held on the 27th (Korea time) at the Houston Stadium in the United States. FIFA rankings place Cape Verde at 67th and Saudi Arabia at 61st.

With this draw, Cape Verde finished the group stage with three consecutive draws: a 0-0 draw against Spain, a 2-2 draw against Uruguay, and the final match against Saudi Arabia. They earned 3 points.

Despite this, Cape Verde finished 2nd in Group H, securing direct qualification for the Round of 32 knockout tournament. Spain topped the group with 2 wins and 1 draw (7 points), followed by Cape Verde.

Meanwhile, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, who failed to overcome Spain's wall, finished with 2 draws and 1 loss (2 points), placing them 3rd and 4th respectively. Notably, Uruguay, which finished 3rd in the group, was confirmed to be eliminated as the lowest-ranked 3rd-place team among all groups, securing the earliest elimination among all 3rd-place teams.

As a result, Cape Verde set a new record by advancing to the Round of 32 with three draws and no wins, while not conceding a single loss in the group stage.

The first time since the 1998 France World Cup that a team advanced to the knockout stage with three draws in the group stage was 28 years ago, when Chile achieved this feat.

In Group B at that time, Italy finished 1st with 7 points, Chile finished 2nd with 3 points after recording three draws, and Austria and Cameroon finished 3rd and 4th respectively with 2 draws and 1 loss.

In the 2016 UEFA European Championship (Euro 2016), Portugal recorded three draws in the group stage and dramatically advanced to the Round of 16 by finishing 4th among the top four 3rd-place teams in Group 6.

Coincidentally, Portugal, which had not won a single match in the group stage, went on to win the tournament in the knockout stage.

Meanwhile, Cape Verde's historic first knockout stage opponent, having advanced to the Round of 32 with three draws, is Argentina, featuring Lionel Messi.

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*This content was translated by AI.