In the early morning of January 20, Beijing time, in the second round of the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Cape Verde men's football team defeated the Mozambican men's football team 3-0, won 2 consecutive victories and accumulated 6 points, locked the top spot one round in advance, and became the first team to advance to the round of 16 knockout rounds of this tournament.
In this tournament, Cape Verde is in Group B with Egypt, Ghana and Mozambique, Egypt is the seeded team, the runner-up of the last session, Ghana is strong, and Cape Verde is not favored.
In the first round of the group stage, Cape Verde defeated Ghana 2-1, and Egypt drew 2-2 with Mozambique, so Cape Verde led the group standings with 3 points. Entering the second round, Egypt and Ghana played first, and finally drew 2-2, allowing Cape Verde to sit on the fisherman's advantage, as long as they beat Mozambique, the team can accumulate six points and qualify one round earlier.
In the end, Cape Verde did not miss this opportunity, relying on the joint goals of Bebe, Ryan Mendes and Kevin Pina to beat Mozambique 3-0, and the whole team celebrated wildly.
After the victory, Cape Verde won 6 points in a row, Egypt accumulated 2 points in 2 rounds, and Ghana and Mozambique accumulated 1 point in 2 rounds, so that Cape Verde locked the top spot in the group one round ahead of schedule and became the first team to advance to the knockout round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations, which is also the first time in the history of the Cape Verde team in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations to lock the top spot in one round in advance.
Perhaps many domestic fans don't know that this team is located in the westernmost part of Africa, Cape Verde is an island country with a population of only 550,000 and a land area of 4,033 square kilometers, which is also the smallest participating country in this Africa Cup of Nations.
Many of Cape Verde's powerful players went to Portugal to play due to domestic economic problems, and eventually became Portuguese citizens and played for the Portuguese national team, including Nani, Nelson Semedo, Sanchez and other players.
In 2000, the Cape Verde men's football team was ranked only 180th in the world, but in 2007 it rose to 162nd, and now it has soared to 73rd, six places higher than the national team. If Cape Verde were to play a match against the national football team, the African side would have a goal difference of at least two.