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Cape Verde to play in the World Cup for the first time after beating Eswatini

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PRAIA, Cape Verde (AP) — Cape Verde will play in the World Cup for the first time after beating Eswatini 3-0 to win its group in African qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Monday.

The archipelago of volcanic islands off the western coast of Africa secured one of the nine automatic spots for the continent. It will be the second smallest country by population to feature in the tournament after Iceland in 2018.

Dailon Livramento scored in the 48th minute, Willy Semedo in the 54th and Stopira in stoppage time to secure the home victory and first place in Group D.

The Blue Sharks finished with four more points than Cameroon, which couldn’t manage more than 0-0 with Angola at home.

Cape Verde, a nation of about 525,000 people, arrived needing a victory, and could have qualified even with a loss as long as Cameroon didn’t defeat Angola.

The nine group winners automatically qualify for the World Cup. The four best runners-up play in a mini tournament of two semifinals and a final in November. Cameroon can still advance as a runner-up.

The repechage winner advances to FIFA’s playoff tournament against opponents from Asia, CONCACAF, South America and Oceania.

Tickets for the Cape Verde match were sold in record time, according to FIFA, and the government declared a half-day holiday across the country so people could watch the game.

The 2026 World Cup is the first with an expanded field of 48 teams, up from 32.

In the other Group D match, Mauritius and Libya drew 0-0.

In Group C, Lesotho defeated Zimbabwe 1-0 at home.

Tunisia ends run with another win

With its spot in the World Cup already secured, Tunisia closed its African qualifying run with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Namibia.

Ali Abdi converted a 28th-minute penalty kick and Hannibal Mejbri and Ferjani Sassi added second-half goals.

Tunisia won Group H with 28 points from 10 matches. It finished 13 points ahead of second-placed Namibia.

Also in Group H, Equatorial Guinea drew with Liberia 1-1 at home, while last-placed Sao Tome and Principe beat Malawi 1-0 for its first win in the group.

In Group B, South Sudan drew with visiting Togo 0-0.

On Sunday, 2010 quarterfinalist Ghana became the fifth African nation to qualify, joining Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco at next year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer