Cape Verde a win away from World Cup qualification

VIDEO SHOWS: CAPE VERDE SQUAD AT TEAM TRAINING SESSION AHEAD OF QUALIFIER AGAINST LIBYA / DELEGATIONS FROM CAPE VERDE AND LIBYA MEETING / SOUNDBITES FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE CAPE VERDE FOOTBALL FEDERATION, PAULO SANTOS RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (OCTOBER 7, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)  1. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS FROM THE CAPE VERDE NATIONAL TEAM STRETCHING AT TRIPOLI STADIUM 2. VARIOUS OF CAPE VERDE SQUAD LISTENING AS CAPE VERDE COACH, PEDRO BRITO, KNOWN AS ‘BUBISTA,’ SPEAKS 3. VARIOUS OF CAPE VERDE SQUAD STRETCHING 4. BUBISTA (BRITO) DRIBBLING BALL 5. VARIOUS OF CAPE VERDE GOALKEEPERS TRAINING TOGETHER 6. VARIOUS OF CAPE VERDE SQUAD WARMING UP 7. CAPE VERDE GOALKEEPER, BRUNO VARELA, TRAINING IN NET 8. VARIOUS OF CAPE VERDE SQUAD TRAINING IN RONDO DRILL 9. BUBISTA (BRITO) WATCHING ON 10. VARIOUS OF SQUAD RUNNING DRILL WITH SHOTS ON GOAL 11. SQUAD RUNNING DRILL 12. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS PASSING BALLS AROUND 13. VARELA KICKING A BALL 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE CAPE VERDE FOOTBALL FEDERATION, PAULO SANTOS, AND HEAD OF DELEGATION, ON MATCH AGAINST LIBYA, SAYING:     “Yeah, it’s a very key match. And that is good, because Cape Verde and Libya are two small countries in football and we are at the top of the group and in discussion for the World Cup qualification. Both of us, Cape Verde and Libya, have had a very good qualifications and we are fighting for that (qualification). So, the match will be – we are expecting a very tough match. The Libyan federation and Libyan football have grown up. And we will be fighting for this, and we will do our best to have a good match, to win the match. But we also know Libya are on the other side to do everything to win the match as well because they still have a chance to qualify.” 15. DELEGATIONS FROM CAPE VERDE AND LIBYA SEATED AT TABLE FOR MEETING 16. CAPE VERDE DELEGATION 17. LIBYA DELEGATION 18. MEMBER OF CAPE VERDE DELEGATION 19. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE CAPE VERDE FOOTBALL FEDERATION, PAULO SANTOS, AND HEAD OF DELEGATION, SAYING:     “First of all, we need to win the match. This is important. When you play football, there are three results: win, lose, and draw. So, we would like to win. If we win, it will be a fantastic day. For our country, it will be something very special. In the middle of our delegation, we said (it would be) the third Independence Day in Cape Verde. So, we need to win. We need to play first. Respect Libya’s team. And with humility, try to win and then give a very happy day to our country, to our people. We are a small country, a very poor country – resilient, but we will try to do this. This is the dream of all of us who are into Cape Verde football and will be waiting.”  20. DELEGATIONS MEETING STORY: The Cape Verde Islands are one win away from a World Cup place that confirms the promise they have shown in recent years, but would have been scarcely believable 20 years ago. The wind-swept island archipelago, off the west coast of Africa, with a population of around 600,000, will become the second smallest country after Iceland to qualify if they win one of their last two qualifiers over the next week. They are away to Libya on Wednesday (October 8) before a home clash with Eswatini on Monday (October 13) in which to ensure top spot in Group D and beat much-fancied Cameroon to the automatic qualifying spot for next year’s tournament in North America. Cape Verde reached the last stages of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but were deducted points for erroneously fielding a suspended player, thereby missing out on the playoffs, where they would also have been two games away from reaching the finals. In their debut Africa Cup of Nations finals appearance in 2013, Cape Verde reached the quarter-finals, prompting their coach to burst into song at the post-match press conference, and they did so again at the last edition in the Ivory Coast, unlucky to be eliminated on penalties. Two decades ago, however, they had barely played any international football, averaging two games a year from 1986, when they joined FIFA, to 1990 when they competed in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time, ranked 182nd in the world. The progress since has been rapid, driven by actively finding players from the Diaspora around the world. The squad for this week’s fixtures has six Dutch-born players plus others born in Portugal, France, and Ireland. Victory in Tripoli on Wednesday will be tough, but if unsuccessful, they will be heavily favoured to secure qualification on Monday with home success against the Swazis. Beating Cameroon last month set off celebrations across the islands, and those will surely be repeated with vigour should they secure a World Cup spot. (Production: Ayman Sahely, Heba Fouad, Kurt Michael Hall)

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