Cabo Verde, a country smaller than Palakkad, will play Argentina in World Cup knockouts

Cabo Verde (Cape Verde), an archipelago with a combined land area (4,033 square kilometres) less than the district of Palakkad (about 4,500 sq. km.) in Kerala, has advanced to the knockout rounds of the FIFA World Cup. They have made history as the smallest country to progress from the group stages.

And they didn’t earn their progress as one of the lucky eight third-placed nations in the expanded 48-team tournament being held in the US, Mexico and Canada. Cabo Verde finished second in Group H, with three points, finishing behind Spain (7) and ahead of Uruguay and Saudi Arabia (2 points each).

Having held Spain to a goalless draw and Uruguay to a gritty 2-2, Cabo Verde secured a third straight point after holding the Saudis 0-0. Meanwhile, Uruguay went down 0-1 to Spain in Guadalajara, guaranteeing the islanders' second place in their group.

The dream run they are on only gets better as Cabo Verde’s opponents in the round of 32 are the reigning World Champions, Argentina, in Miami on July 4. The tiny nation of about 5,00,000 people, who are also known as the ‘Blue Sharks’, is led by a 40-year-old goalkeeper, Vozinha.

Cabo Verde could have won the match as they had created the best chance in the 74th minute when Nuno da Costa ran onto a through ball and found Laros Duarte. But goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais charged off his line to keep the game goalless. Ghana and Ukraine were the last tournament debutants to progress from their groups.