Crazy scenario in African World Cup qualifiers

On the night of October 8, Cape de Verde was trailing Libya 3-1 until the 75th minute but still managed to equalize, thereby opening the door to winning a ticket to the World Cup for the first time in history.

Cape de Verde is set to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

In the penultimate match of Group D, the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Africa, Cape de Verde needed 3 points to get an early ticket to the Americas next year. However, things seemed to be beyond the control of coach Leitao Brito and his team, when they conceded 3 goals, in the 1st, 42nd and 58th minutes.

The surprise happened when the world's 70th-ranked team rose strongly in the final minutes of the match. Sidny Cabral and Willy Semedo scored in the 76th and 82nd minutes respectively, helping the away team regain a valuable point.

The match ended in a 3-3 draw. The team from a country with a population of only 600,000 people continued to lead Group D with 20 points and only needed to defeat Eswatini, the weakest opponent in the group, in the final round to complete the fairy tale with the first World Cup ticket in history. Meanwhile, the disastrous draw almost made Libya lose all hope of participating in the world football festival.

In the same match, Cameroon team of Andre Onana, Bryan Mbeumo beat Mauritius 2-0, thereby rising to 2nd place in Group D with 18 points. Mbeumo contributed the winning goal for the "Indomitable Lions". In the final match, Cameroon will face Angola, a team that has no more goals to strive for.

The chance for Libya to regain 2nd place is only theoretical, because they are 3 points behind Cameroon's play-off position, and their goal difference is also far behind (2 compared to 12).

Ranking of Group D, World Cup qualifiers Africa.

Source: https://znews.vn/kich-ban-dien-ro-o-vong-loai-world-cup-khu-vuc-chau-phi-post1591969.html