Key events<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, a 0-0 draw wouldn\u2019t yield such scenes of jubilation, but Cape Verde\u2019s players are all hugs and shouts while their blue-clad fans bounce in the stands.<\/p>\n
For Saudi Arabia<\/a> \u2026 many questions. Was the game plan to kick the ball around and wait for Cape Verde to make a catastrophic error?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Round of 32 matchup: Argentina vs. Cape Verde<\/a>. Wonder who\u2019ll be favored.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Cape Verde qualify for the round of 32<\/p>\n It\u2019s all over for Uruguay, and Cape Verde<\/a> can celebrate. No need to wait out all the third-place tiebreakers.<\/p>\n Also, the result helps Scotland. Not that it\u2019s likely to be enough.<\/p>\n Garry Rodrigues celebrates at full-time, Cape Verde have done it! Photograph: Image Photo Agency\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.07 EDT<\/p>\n Final: Cape Verde 0-0 Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n Just a few seconds left in the other game to see if Cape Verde<\/a> end up in second place.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min +5 Cape Verde break! Two on one, but the attack slows when it gets to Rodrigues. They recycle it, and Rodiguez puts it on a platter, but it\u2019s hit wide! The good news for Cape Verde<\/a> \u2013 that\u2019s the end.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min +4 Saudi Arabia hit a hopeful ball into the box. Cleared, but Saudi Arabia<\/a> have a throw, and they\u2019ve shown they can throw it a mile.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min +3 Yellow card to Al-Buraikan for a needless foul at midfield. Cape Verde<\/a> can kill some time setting up a free kick \u2013 actually, they\u2019ll kill more by bringing on Columbus Crew defender Steven Moreira for Wagner Pina, who had a standout performance.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min +2 CHANCE FOR SAUDI ARABIA. OK, maybe they do. Quick sequence of passes and a shot from just within the box. Vozinha nonchalantly stops it and leaves the ball at his feet.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min +2 Saudi Arabia have the ball and still have multiple players in their own half. Do they realize?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min +1 Rodrigues is making all sorts of errors. He once again concedes a goal kick to Saudi Arabia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Only five minutes of stoppage time. Well, they haven\u2019t had any goal celebrations \u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 90 min Free kick to Cape Verde<\/a>, and to be honest, I don\u2019t quite see why. May we see a replay please?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 89 min Rodrigues with a rash attempt at a cross, yielding possession back to Saudi Arabia<\/a>.<\/p>\n And they play the goal kick short. Where\u2019s the urgency?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 88 min Saudi Arabia get a corner. Or not! VAR intervenes, and it\u2019s a goal kick.<\/p>\n They say 2-0 is the most dangerous lead in soccer. I\u2019d argue 0-0 with a lead in the group standings is worse.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 86 min How have Cape Verde<\/a> not scored! They work it forward again, and there\u2019s a brave block from Al-Amri on Wagner Pina, and the rebound just doesn\u2019t fall where it can be played.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.51 EDT<\/p>\n 85 min Rodrigues with a good ball to da Costa, but the Saudi defenders reset.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 85 min Da Costa works to beat two Saudi defenders and just about does it, but he\u2019s at an acute angle to shoot and opts not to pass.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 84 min A drop from Al-Owais! But Cape Verde<\/a> aren\u2019t quick enough to pounce on the error by the Saudi keeper.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 83 min But maybe these subs are helping Saudi Arabia<\/a> maintain possession, which they\u2019ve done a good bit in the last five minutes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 82 min Tangle of bodies at midfield but no call \u2013 probably correctly so.<\/p>\n The final Saudi Arabia<\/a> sub is coming on \u2013 and it\u2019s another player listed as a defender, Al-Harbi, coming on for Boushal. I believe Saudi Arabia have alleged forwards on the bench who will go unused as they chase the goal that would prolong their stay at this Cup.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 80 min Ouch. Al-Hamdan with the foul as Cape Verde<\/a> try to break the pressure.<\/p>\n The free kick is long and wayward, and Saudi Arabia<\/a> will set up shop again.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 79 min Rodrigues blasts the ball into the wall. No, it wasn\u2019t a free kick. He had three players in front of him and shot anyway.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 78 min xG tally now: 1.13 to 0.24 in favor of Cape Verde<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 76 min Corner to Saudi Arabia<\/a> now.<\/p>\n Will Cape Verde<\/a> rue these missed chances?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 74 min HUGE CHANCE for Cape Verde<\/a> on the counter. It\u2019s a big save by Al-Owais to stop Laros Duarte\u2019s 1-on-1 opportunity in the end. Corner to Cape Verde, headed just over the bar.<\/p>\n What a chance for Laros Duarte! Photograph: Annegret Hilse\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.43 EDT<\/p>\n 73 min Free kick to Saudi Arabia<\/a>, and it drops from the air 8 yards from goal but is headed clear.<\/p>\n Then an extremely long throw-in from Saudi Arabia \u2013 must have covered 30 yards diagonally, and a near chance.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n This half has belonged to the Blue Sharks, but in a game with these stakes, they\u2019re still one errant pass or defensive slip-up away from going out of the Cup.<\/p>\n Subs for Cape Verde: Monteiro and Mendes are out. Laros Duarte and Garry Rodrigues in. Those changes give me less confidence in the Cape Verde<\/a> attack.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 68 min The last kick before the hydration break is an errant cross from Kevin Pina.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 66 min But Saudi Arabia<\/a> get a chance right away, sending up a high shot that Vozinha honestly doesn\u2019t handle well.<\/p>\n Cape Verde counterattack, and the remaining Al-Dawsari (Nasser) gets a yellow card as he breaks up the run.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.32 EDT<\/p>\n 65 min As you were. Cape Verde pass around, just inside Saudi Arabia\u2019s half, and Saudi Arabia<\/a> see no need to press.<\/p>\n Cape Verde play long and out of play.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia subs: The captain, Salem Al-Dawsari, is out. So is Sultan Mandash. Now entering: Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat. Two midfielders out, replaced by a midfielder and a \u2026 defender?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 64 min When the ball gets back to Vozinha, he seems to be the only Cape Verdean or neutral observer who isn\u2019t nervous. Another pass out of trouble, but only by an instant.<\/p>\n It\u2019s getting close to the biggest party ever in Praia. Photograph: Jose Correia\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.37 EDT<\/p>\n 63 min Varela takes a tumble in the box after his first touch of the game, but there\u2019s nothing in it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 62 min Subs for Cape Verde<\/a>, and it\u2019s a pity to see Willy Semedo go out. He has been, by some margin, the best player on the pitch. Livramento also goes out. Nuno da Costa and H\u00e9lio Varela, scorer of the tying goal vs. Uruguay, are in.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 59 min Bad giveaway one way. Bad giveaway the other way. It\u2019s compelling because of the stakes, and Cape Verde<\/a> look industrious at times, but this is not a game to show the extraterrestrials when they decide what to do with their new colony on Earth.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 58 min Vozinha plays long. Saudi Arabia<\/a> win it in the air but give it back again. Now they\u2019ll try to gain some control of the game. They need a goal.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 56 min Willy Semedo earns a corner kick. The ball is partially cleared, and Cape Verde<\/a> pass around again.<\/p>\n Deroy Duarte figures he\u2019ll give it a go and loops a shot from 25 yards but misses.<\/p>\n