{"id":1210,"date":"2026-06-06T16:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210"},"modified":"2026-06-06T16:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T16:38:23","slug":"the-small-african-country-with-big-world-cup-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210","title":{"rendered":"The small African country with big World Cup dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
MINDELO, Cape Verde, June 6 (Reuters) – Cape Verde sways to the sound of morna, a homegrown folk music laced with melancholy, longing and soul. Morna’s most famous song, “Sodade,” remembers the tens of thousands of emigr\u00e9s who have left these 10 islands sprinkled off the coast of West Africa for work and opportunities \u200babroad.<\/div>\n
“If you write me, I’ll write you,” the song’s lyrics go. “If you forget me, I’ll forget you.”<\/div>\n
In the next few weeks, Cape \u200cVerdeans hope their sense of nostalgia will turn to celebration. Their eyes are on the national soccer team, which is packed full of stars whose parents or even grandparents left Cape Verde years ago but who still consider the islands home.<\/div>\n
The Blue Sharks, as the team is known, is one of the surprise qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. With fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, \u200bCape Verde is the third smallest country by population to ever reach the world’s biggest sporting event (after Iceland in 2018 and Curacao, also in \u200b2026).<\/div>\n
Cape Verde’s national team combines local talent with a raft of foreign-born players, including centre-back Roberto Lopes, who was born \u2060in Ireland to an Irish mother and Cape Verdean father, and Logan Costa, who was born in France to Cape Verdean parents and plays for Villarreal in \u200bSpain.<\/div>\n
The combination of local and international talent has proven magically effective. Cape Verde won seven of their 10 games in World Cup qualifiers, losing just once and scoring \u200ba huge upset win at home against African heavyweights Cameroon.<\/div>\n
The World Cup will be another level. Ranked 69th in the world, the Blue Sharks will face tournament favourites Spain, two-time World Cup winners Uruguay and Saudi Arabia (a relative minnow but still ranked higher at 61st) in the group stage.<\/div>\n
But locals have faith.<\/div>\n
“I’m very proud,” said Anton Delgado, 25, after spending a recent \u200bSunday afternoon with friends in a bar in Mindelo, a city on the island of S\u00e3o Vicente. “It’s a marvel. I’ve been waiting years for this. We have \u200breal hope that we can win a game or even two.”<\/div>\n

RHODE ISLAND LINKS<\/h2>\n
That sense of hope is widely shared across Cape Verde. The tiny nation’s restaurants, bars and cafes are \u200cnormally packed \u2060with singers and bands playing morna for tourists and locals alike. Now they are gearing up for the World Cup.<\/div>\n
At the Caf\u00e9 Royal, a hotel and restaurant in Mindelo, staff are planning for big crowds. The Royal features a large mural of morna superstar Ces\u00e1ria \u00c9vora, who, even 15 years after her death, remains the most famous Cape Verdean in the world. But it is the country’s football stars that everyone wants to talk about now.<\/div>\n
Noaela Delgardo, 22, who works behind the \u200bbar at the Royal, said the World \u200bCup is a rare opportunity for \u2060other Cape Verdeans to shine and for the country to gain “more visibility in the world.”<\/div>\n
Despite the growth of tourism, it is hard not to feel the archipelago’s isolation and distance from bigger centres. There are flights from Europe, but the only \u200bdirect flight to the United States lands in Providence, Rhode Island – a legacy of 19th-century whaling ties between the \u200btwo places and the \u2060large Cape Verdean community that lives in Providence today.<\/div>\n
The World Cup is a chance to close that distance, said pensioner Jorge Goncales, 69, sitting with friends one morning in a tree-filled Mindelo square. “The whole world comes to us. Now we go out to the world.”<\/div>\n
Head coach Pedro Leit\u00e3o Brito \u2014 who was named Africa’s Coach of the Year last \u2060year and \u200bis better known by his nickname, Bubista \u2014 also sees a chance to put Cape Verde on \u200bthe map.<\/div>\n
“We want to make an impact on the tournament for our people,” he told CNN a few weeks ago. “We want to show everyone watching that, yes, we’re a small country, but we \u200bcan play against the big teams. We know it’s hard but we want to show that nothing is impossible.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read more In Bay Area, World Cup is set to boost fast-growing grassroots soccer<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more Iran World Cup players get US visas, official says, some staff waiting<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more BP chairman debacle will cast a long shadow: podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, \u200bCape Verde is the third smallest country by population to ever reach the world’s biggest sporting event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-1210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-soccer"],"yoast_head":"\nThe small African country with big World Cup dreams - Reliable Moving Crews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The small African country with big World Cup dreams - Reliable Moving Crews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, \u200bCape Verde is the third smallest country by population to ever reach the world's biggest sporting event.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reliable Moving Crews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-06T16:38:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\"},\"headline\":\"The small African country with big World Cup dreams\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T16:38:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210\"},\"wordCount\":727,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif\",\"keywords\":[\"Soccer\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210\",\"name\":\"The small African country with big World Cup dreams - Reliable Moving Crews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-06T16:38:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1005},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?p=1210#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The small African country with big World Cup dreams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reliable Moving Crews\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reliablemovingcrews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The small African country with big World Cup dreams - Reliable Moving Crews","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The small African country with big World Cup dreams - Reliable Moving Crews","og_description":"With fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, \u200bCape Verde is the third smallest country by population to ever reach the world's biggest sporting event.","og_url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210","og_site_name":"Reliable Moving Crews","article_published_time":"2026-06-06T16:38:23+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24"},"headline":"The small African country with big World Cup dreams","datePublished":"2026-06-06T16:38:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210"},"wordCount":727,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif","keywords":["Soccer"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210","name":"The small African country with big World Cup dreams - Reliable Moving Crews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-06T16:38:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/971d97cefd7342040aaf699b2cdf0a40.avif","width":1920,"height":1005},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1210#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The small African country with big World Cup dreams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/","name":"Reliable Moving Crews","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f02a869ba60b78ae3d994f205e0d24","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}