Cape Verde Islands at the World Cup 2026
Group H · CAF
Cape Verde Islands are first World Cup appearance and line up in Group H at the 2026 FIFA World Cup — the first 48-team edition of the tournament, co-hosted by the United States, Canada, Mexico. They face Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay in the group stage. For US (soccer) fans, all Cape Verde Islands kickoff times below are shown in Eastern and Pacific as well as GMT. Below: the full Cape Verde Islands schedule, kickoff times, group rivals and our model's match predictions.
Cape Verde Islands World Cup 2026 Schedule
Kickoff times in US Eastern (ET) and Pacific (PT) are converted automatically from each match's scheduled time; confirm against your local broadcaster.
Cape Verde Islands's World Cup 2026 group: how hard is it?
Drawn into Group H, Cape Verde Islands share their section with Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay. The standout name is Spain and Uruguay — former world champions, which makes this one of the tougher pools to escape. With four confederations potentially represented, styles clash here, and the new 48-team format means the top two go through automatically while the third-placed side still has a realistic route into the Round of 32.
Cape Verde Islands's opening fixtures and what to watch
Cape Verde Islands open against Spain (away), then meet Uruguay before closing the group against Saudi Arabia. Group-stage points are usually decided in the first two matchdays, so that opener carries real weight. Our prediction model reads each of these games through recent form, opponent strength and a Dixon-Coles Poisson grid — see the projected scorelines and win probabilities on our World Cup 2026 predictions page.
Cape Verde Islands World Cup history
Historically, Cape Verde Islands's best World Cup return is first World Cup appearance. In 2026 they travel to North America, with matches spread across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Group H — Cape Verde Islands's rivals
For match-by-match analysis and predicted scorelines, see our World Cup predictions. You can also view the full Group H table and fixtures, browse all 12 groups and the knockout bracket, or check the complete World Cup 2026 schedule with US kickoff times.