All posts tagged: smallest nation

Cape Verde reach World Cup knockouts as smallest nation in tournament history

Cape Verde reach World Cup knockouts as smallest nation in tournament history

Published by Webster

5 min readBostonUpdated: Jun 27, 2026 09:34 PM IST When Cape Verde locked out Saudi Arabia, home to one of the richest leagues in the world and conquerors of Argentina at the previous World Cup, the tiny island nation battered by hurricanes were not yet certain of their progress to the knockouts. Their fate depended on the Uruguay-Spain game. After shaking hands with the Saudi players, they wandered around, searching for their messenger of hope. Finally, the news arrived: Spain had beaten Uruguay. The smallest nation ever to reach the knockouts of a World Cup were through. Midfielder Deroy Duarte told reporters he wanted to cry. “Everyone was just waiting and praying,” he said. “We deserved it so much, because we gave everything. There was so much tension. The joy that came out is something I never felt before, and I hope to feel it again.” Soon he joined his teammates in a full-on party. Manager Pedro Leitão Brito, known as Bubista, strolled in furiously waving a giant Cape Verde flag. Some of his players …

Cape Verde creates WC history as smallest nation to reach knockouts, set to face Argentina

Cape Verde creates WC history as smallest nation to reach knockouts, set to face Argentina

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: Jun 27, 2026 07:41 AM IST The final whistles went off in Guadalajara and Houston within moments of each other on Friday night. When Uruguay suffered a 0-1 defeat to Spain, the expanded field of a 48-team World Cup rejoiced as Cape Verde’s stunning resistance pulled off a historic result over Saudi Arabia at the Houston Stadium. A goalless draw meant that they had denied any of their Group H opponents the satisfaction of a win and consigned Uruguay’s group-stage exit. An archipelago of 10 volcanic islands not far from the Western African coast, Cape Verde finished second in Group H, securing a berth in the World Cup knockouts at their first attempt. The 56-year-old Bubista’s side became the smallest nation, by size and population, to qualify for the World Cup knockout stages, pushing down Uruguay to third place, in less than eight months since they secured their berth at the sport’s grandest stage. They began their campaign with a stunning hold of former champions Spain in a 0-0 draw, affirming that …

Smallest nation with the biggest point

Smallest nation with the biggest point

Published by Webster

For ignorant millennials, the FIFA World Cup was a better atlas than geography lessons at school. Korea-Japan 2002 taught us where Henri Camara’s Senegal was located. Germany 2006 made it impossible not to know about Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine. South Africa 2010 prompted a generation to learn about Asamoah Gyan’s Ghana. Had USA-Mexico-Canada 2026 been played in that era, we would have run into a problem. We would have scoured through the world map to find Curacao — the team that restricted Ecuador to a 0-0 stalemate on Sunday — and found nothing. They are a tiny dot on a physical map. Senior & Co., Curaçao’s oldest distillery and the producer of the original Blue Curaçao liqueur, acknowledges the irony on its website: “The funny thing is that now many people know the term Blue Curaçao, but don’t know that Curaçao is also an island.” And you would not be accused of geographical blasphemy for the same. The island has a population of 158,000. Ranked 189th. They have an area of 444 square kilometres. ALSO READ …