Draw enough to send Cape Verde through, magical run continues

Editor’s Note: I’ll be shifting my format for Matchday 3, as I attempt to keep up with the insane cadence of three doubleheaders of fixtures per day. I hope you enjoy my minute-by-minute commentary—taken directly from my notes as I watch! Make sure you’re tuning in to all the highlights on my Instagram & Bluesky. I’ll return to my usual format upon the start of the Round of 32! <3, E$

Cape Verde (4-1-4-1): Vozinha; Wagner Pina, Roberto Lopes, Diney Borges, Joao Paulo; Kevin Pina; Ryan Mendes, Deroy Duarte, Jamiro Monteiro, Willy Semedo; Dailon Liveramento.

Substitutes: Carlos dos Santos, Marcio Rosa, Kelvin Pires, Logan Costa, Steven Moreira, Stopira, Laros Duarte, Yannick Semedo, Garry Rodrigues, Gilson Benchimol, Helio Varela, Jovane Cabral, Nuno da Costa.

Saudi Arabia (4-3-3): Mohammed Al Owais; Saud Abdulhamid, Abdulelah Al Amri, Hassan Al Tambakti, Nawaf Al-Boushail; Mohamed Kanno, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Abdullah Alkhaibari; Sultan Mandash, Firas Al-Buraikan, Salem Al-Dawsari.

Substitutes: Ahmed Ali Al Kassar, Nawaf Alaqidi, Ali Lajmi, Ali Majrashi, Ayman Yahya, Hasan Kadesh, Jehad Thakri, Moteb Al-Harbi, Alaa Hajji, Mohammed Abu Al Shamat, Musab Al-Juwayr, Ziyad Ajohani, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Khalid Al Ghannam, Saleh Al-Shehri.

0’ With both sides going into this fixture likely needing a win to advance (Cape Verde can progress through if Uruguay doesn’t win), it’ll be interesting to see how they approach the match. Saudi Arabia was completely overrun in their last match against Spain, unable to get anything going on offense. Cape Verde scraped a draw against Uruguay thanks to an incredible longshot and a mistake from Sebastian Muslera. We’re in for a stalemate, likely, until one of these teams can seize upon a chaotic chance to perhaps net a goal.

3’ Saud Abdulhamid is shown an early yellow card as he leaps in towards a falling ball, seeming to catch a Cape Verde player in the head with a knee. Replay reveals a stellar acting job, as he at best grazed the opponent. The VAR room has missed an obvious dive, Cape Verde are lucky to not have been booked—Saudi Arabia should be upset.

8’ Not much action in either side’s final third yet, it’ll be interesting to see how the flow of this fixture pans out. Both teams have failed to offer much in terms of chance creation on the attack through the first two match days—now they both need a win to stay alive. Cape Verde’s Kevin Pina will cross his fingers for another long-range set piece opportunity.

15’ We are a quarter of an hour into the match and there hasn’t been a single highlight worth mentioning. Someone, please, anyone, do something!

‘18 Finally, we have a shot. Saudi captain Salem Al-Dawsari, sitting at the back post, collects a cross from the right wing. He’s able to get away a left-footed effort that looks as if it’ll threaten Cape Verde keeper Vozinha, but a defender slides in to block it—chance dealt with.

22’ THE GAME’S FIRST CHANCE! Cape Verde’s Willy Semedo leads a break down the left wing, staring down the goal as he makes his way into the opposition’s box. He hesitates a bit too long, eventually firing a straight-forward attempt towards the near post that Saudi keeper Al-Owais handles with ease.

32’ Saudi center back Hassan Altambakti is stretchered off after picking up an injury. Ali Lajami comes in to replace him off the bench.

34’ Cape Verde have begun to push higher up the field, their backline drifting into the opposition’s half as they press forward in attack. The Saudis are doing a brilliant job of staying compact in their shape, denying the final ball when it comes near.

39’ Saudi Arabian players have spent more time crowding the referee in disagreement than pushing forward on the attack. Have they forgotten that they have to win this game in order to progress forward? I don’t understand.

42’ Suddenly, Cape Verde are set to advance to the Round of 32! Uruguay keeper Sebastian Muslera has had an absolute howler in the other Group H fixture. The keeper just gifted Spain an opening goal off a rather innocuous looking effort from midfielder Alex Baena, perhaps the worst howler we’ve seen at a World Cup since Rob Green.

45+2’ A SHOT FOR SAUDI ARABIA!!!!! Center back Abdulelah Al-Amri makes his way into the opposition’s half to collect the ball, floating a delightful lofted pass towards the back post from about 40 yards out. Striker Mohamed Kanno meets it in the air, close to the edge of the 6-yard box, heading it towards goal. It’s a visually delightful sequence, but the header goes right into a waiting Vozinha’s grasp.

45+3’ Cape Verde can exhale a bit as they head into the locker rooms at the break, Uruguay having conceded a goal to Spain in the other Group H fixture. That gives them an extra cushion to play for a draw (if they want to).

48’ CAPE VERDE THREATEN AL-OWAIS’S GOAL!!!!!!! Wagner Pina darts into far side of the box, receiving a through ball from Mendes. Sending the ball across from the right byline towards the top of the box, it finds his teammate Jamiro Monteiro. The midfielder tries a right-footed effort, trying to find the bottom left corner— butAl-Owais is positioned well to make the save.

50’ LENINI THREATENS THE TOP CORNER FROM 40 YARDS OUT!!!!!!!!!!! An absolutely audacious attempt from Cape Verde’s defensive midfielder gets the Houston crowd to their feet as it nears the goal. Al-Owais leaps into the air with a full extension as he watches it float just outside of the top-left corner. That would’ve one-upped Kevin Pina’s free kick from Matchday 2 if it went in. My goodness.

56’ The stat sheet is pretty even so far, both teams splitting possession with Cape Verde holding a slight shot advantage. Saudi Arabia are going to have to do a lot more in the final third if they are to steal 2nd place in Group H away from Cape Verde.

67’ VOZINHA TO THE RESCUE!!! Saudi substitute Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat makes a nice run on the near side of the attacking third, a teammate playing him into the 18-yard box. As he sends a cross towards the middle, it heads towards the far corner of the goal—forcing the Cape Verde keeper to adjust on the fly and neatly backtrack to catch the ball. A wonderful job to stop an oddball of a chance.

74’ AL-OWAIS KEEPS THE SAUDIS ALIVE!!!!!!! WHAT A SAVE!!!!!!!! Wonderful counter attack. Garry Rodrigues rolls a perfect through ball to sub Laros Duarte at the far edge of the 6-yard box, hitting a driven effort towards goal. Al-Owais lays out wonderfully to make a tournament-saving stop with his legs.

84’ Saudi Arabia have failed to put a shot on goal since Al-Shamat’s half-cross/half-shot in the 67th minute. They’ll have to rely on a miraculous change of pace to get the win they so desperately require.

86’ Cape Verde threaten in the final third once more, Rodrigues offering another wonderful pass in attack over to the fullback Wagner Pina, waiting inside the box. Al Amri goes his body across to block the shot, sniffing out the chance.

90+2’ IS THAT THE LAST CHANCE FOR THE SAUDIS?!? Substitute Abdullah Al Hamdan does well to create a chance for himself, playing a quick one-two pass with a teammate near the top of the Cape Verde area. He rushes the shot just a tad too early, not able to get enough power on it—right into Vozinha’s grasp.

90+5’ NEARLY A PERFECT ENDING FOR CAPE VERDE!!!!!!!!!! With a numbers advantage on the break as Saudi are dispossessed, desperately overcommitting in search of a winner—suddenly the African side are through. Rodrigues does well to once again tee up a teammate for a surefire goal—this time it’s Da Costa failing to convert, sending it wide of the net. No matter, the referee blows his whistle for full-time moments later. Cape Verde are through!

Cape Verde were the better side today, limiting the Saudi’s to only a handful of goalscoring opportunities—none making it past Vozinha. Kevin Pina continued his form in the heart of midfield, albeit not adding another wild longshot to his catalogue. The center back pairing of Pico and Diney Borges locked down the Saudi attack wonderfully. Gerry Rodrigues looked good off the bench, I’d want to see him get more involved going forward. Captain Ryan Mendes will have to deal with news breaking today about a criminal investigation surrounding him. Back to the World Cup—the biggest surprise story of the tournament so far will carry onwards, Cape Verde are set to face-off against juggernauts Argentina and all-time great Lionel Messi in the Round of 32. They’ll likely get thrashed, but who knows.

Saudi Arabia couldn’t get anything going in the final third today—even the shots they managed to fire at Vozinha were rather poor. So ends another disappoining World Cup campaign in the group stage after a promising opening result, this time their draw against Uruguay (In 2022, it was beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina before they bowed out two matches later). If anyone was going to carry this team to victory today, it was center back Abdulelah Al-Amri. Unfortunately, a defender can only do so much when his entire team is failing to create goalscoring opportuninties. Sayonara, Saudi Arabia.

Vozinha kept a clean sheet today and denied the Saudis in stoppage time. In a match without many standouts, I’ll give it to the fan favorite, may his Instagram continue to amass millions more followers.

The full-time whistle gets another MMOTM nod—this time for the pure joy, elation, and historical feat it brought Cape Verde. They become the first debutants at a World Cup to reach the knockouts since Slovakia in 2010.

As a reminder, the match card reflects my thoughts on the entire fixture as a whole—and is comprised of the following:

Man of the Match: The man of the match will be awarded card’s player face/headshot

Aura (AURA): How much “aura” or unique atmosphere/feel that the match had

Goals (GOL): A rating of the game’s quality of goals

Entertainment (ENMT): Was the game engaging, lively, memorable?

Memes (LOL): Did the game have any funny/memeable moments?

Rewatchability (RWD): Would I watch this match again—is it worth doing so?

Emotional Investment (EMO): A rating based on how attached I was, or became, to the match

Not exactly sure what the gameplan here was for Saudi Arabia. Cape Verde were far the better side today, should’ve had at least one goal. If they manage to beat Argentina… -E$