Cape Verde only started their qualifying journey as a nation in the early 2000s, and after 26 years, they have finally made it to their first ever World Cup. They were the surprise package in qualifying, finishing above Cameroon on their way to a 7-2-1 record over their 10 games. For a short time, they became the smallest country by land area to ever qualify for the World Cup, though this was a record that was lost to Curacao just a month later. They are a side that finished bottom of their qualifying group for the 2025/26 African Cup of Nations and are just one of two countries from Africa who did not take part in the tournament earlier this year who will be featuring at the World Cup this summer. Though fairly inexperienced in major tournaments, their world ranking is better than a series of other sides in the tournament.