Debutants Cape Verde and African heavyweights Egypt produced impressive performances against their respective European opponents in the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Cape Verde continued their fairytale debut campaign by holding reigning European champions Spain to a goalless draw.
The Blue Sharks displayed remarkable resilience throughout the encounter, with veteran goalkeeper Vozinha emerging as the hero after producing a string of outstanding saves to deny the Spaniards.
The result represents one of the biggest surprises of the tournament so far, as Cape Verde secured a valuable point against one of the pre-tournament favourites.
Meanwhile, Egypt also earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Belgium in another impressive outing for the African representatives.
The Pharaohs took the lead in the 19th minute through Ashour, who finished clinically to put the North Africans ahead.
However, Belgium restored parity in the 66th minute when an unfortunate own goal by Hany handed the Europeans an equaliser.
The positive results for both Cape Verde and Egypt underline the growing competitiveness of African teams on the global stage as the World Cup continues.
