Cape Verde Islands 0-0 Saudi Arabia — World Cup: Recap, Highlights & Reactions

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A nation of just 525,000 people has just made World Cup knockout history by drawing every single game.

Cape Verde survived a tense scoreless draw against Saudi Arabia to become the smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup knockout stage.

The Blue Sharks needed only a point to secure their historic Round of 32 spot. They got it in Houston through a gritty defensive display and a Player of the Match performance from . Saudi Arabia goalkeeper kept his side alive with massive saves to deny and Laros Duarte. missed a wide-open winner late for Cape Verde, but the draw was enough. While the Green Falcons suffer another group-stage exit, Cape Verde marches on undefeated. They now face a dream knockout tie against Argentina.

— and get this

Cape Verde is the first nation since Chile in 1998 to advance from a World Cup group stage by drawing all three of their matches.

Despite being eliminated, Saudi Arabia kept its first World Cup clean sheet in 32 years, snapping an 18-match streak of conceding.

Before kickoff, prediction markets heavily favored Saudi Arabia's elimination, with Polymarket pricing their group-stage exit at 100% as the match wrapped up.

The Blue Sharks are only the third African nation to go undefeated in their debut World Cup group stage, joining Cameroon in 1982 and Senegal in 2002.