The West African island nation earned the spot after beating Eswatini 3-0 in their last group match

The West African island nation earned the spot after beating Eswatini 3-0 in their last group match

The West African island nation earned the spot after beating Eswatini 3-0 in their last group match

A tiny African nation, scattered across ten volcanic islands, with a population of about 525,000, has made history by qualifying for its first-ever FIFA World Cup.

Cape Verde, a West African archipelago, earned the spot on Tuesday after beating Eswatini 3-0 in their last group match. 

Dailon Livramento, Willy Semedo and Stopira scored each goal after sailing through a parlous first half as the team finished Group D on 23 points—four ahead of Cameroon, one of the continent's top soccer powers.

Cape Verde now joined Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Ghana, which have qualified already for the World Cup.

For a country shaped by severe droughts and scarce natural resources, this is a ‘dream come true’ moment. The team rarely played international football until a couple of decades ago; there was not even a national team when the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

Cape Verde is now the second-smallest nation by population ever to qualify for the tournament, after Iceland in 2018.

How did the country achieve this milestone? Experts give credit to the power of global diaspora, often referred to as the 11th island of the archipelago. Nearly one million Cape Verdeans live abroad, primarily in Europe, and this vast network has become the vital force behind the national team.

The Netherlands is home to an estimated 23,000 people of Cape Verdean descent; it has produced six players in the current national team, including Livramento, the side’s leading scorer in the qualifiers with four goals, according to a Guardian report.

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