Uruguay and Cape Verde played one of the highest quality matches since the start of the 2026 World Cup and made a real spectacle for the final 2:2 in a match from the second round of group "H".
Kevin Pina (21') opened the scoring sensationally after a famous free kick, and at the end of the half Maximiliano Araujo (44') from the South Americans restored parity. In added time, the Uruguayans achieved a complete turnaround through Augustin Canobio (45'+6'), but it was rendered meaningless a quarter of an hour into the second half, when a blatant goalkeeping error led to an equalizer, and this time the hero for Cape Verde was Helio Varela (61'). Twenty minutes before the end of regular time, the one-time world champions scored a third goal, but it was canceled after a review by VAR.
In the other match in the same group, Spain defeated Saudi Arabia 4:0, and this obliged the "Uru" to seek the maximum in the upcoming clash.
Thus, the battle in the group remains extremely complicated, since with one round to go, the difference between second and fourth is only a point. Cape Verde and Uruguay have two points each and will fight for second place until the end, with Bubista's students even regretting not being able to match the big favorite Spain, who they also drew 0-0 in the first round. The Russians, on the other hand, were once again struggling to score, as they did against Saudi Arabia, when they only managed to draw 1-1, but they never expected to receive such a rebuff from their own opponents. Cape Verde played with great confidence today, showed class and not only outplayed their famous opponent, but at times even outdid them, managing to score more goals (4-2) and shoot 12 times at the South American goal.
The match is among the matches of the world football finals, which are taking place in the United States, and the arena of the clash is "Hard Rock Stadium", which is located in Miami, Florida. This, as well as all 104 matches from the 2026 World Cup, can be watched live on bnt.sportal.bg.
The Cape Verdean players started with the intention of being a pleasant surprise today, as they repeatedly went down dangerously towards their opponent's goal. The Uruguayans did the same, following the logic and creating the most dangerous situation in the opening quarter of an hour of the match. During a counterattack, Valverde entered the penalty area at breakneck speed and after doing the more difficult thing by overcoming the opposing players with enviable speed, he himself wasted his efforts and delivered a mediocre shot that went past the opposite post.
In addition to the intensity of the opponents' play, we also saw strong duels in these opening minutes, and they led to two yellow cards - one for players from each team. Thus, in the 5th minute, Sidney Lopez Cabral was punished, and in the 20th minute, Rodrigo Bentancur received his official warning. For Cabral in particular, this could have meant that his participation in the World Cup would end, since he already had one yellow card and so his punishment was made official for the next match, which he had to miss. Thus, the Cape Verdean player could only play again in a match from the direct eliminations in the championship of the planet.
It was Bentancur's violation that led to the big nightmare for the South American colossus in the first half of the final half. The Cape Verdean team was awarded a free kick, and Kevin Pina decided to shoot directly to score one of the most famous goals of the start of the 2026 World Cup.
After the hydration break, the Uruguayans not only did not respond properly, but it could have happened that they retired at the break with two goals in the deficit. In the 39th minute, a player in a red sports kit, which every player of the "blue sharks" had to wear today, sent a cross into the penalty area, which, however, was not detected by anyone, but was strong enough to be impossible for goalkeeper Fernando Muslera to directly catch. Thus, the latter was forced to stretch with all his strength and clear into a corner.
However, Muslera's net remained dry, and this played a decisive role, as the former world champions from the first World Cup so many years ago managed to equalize. About a minute before the end of the first half, after brutal pressure, Valverde finally decided to cross, and in the penalty shootout, while trying to clear the ball, Sidney Lopez Cabral sent the ball into the post, and it bounced off Araujo's foot. He didn't hold back at all and shot Vozinha, saving the Uruses from a huge embarrassment, at least temporarily.
In addition to the goal, the symbolic guests were temporarily left with one man less, as they had to not only recover from the psychological blow at the end of the half, but also make sure that they survived with a numerical deficit that would not turn into one on the scoreboard.
The Uruguayans, on the other hand, received a boost to their recently forgotten self-confidence, which was raised by Luis Suarez, who was in the VIP boxes at the stadium, to whom Araujo dedicated his goal. Thus, the South Americans did what was necessary and six minutes after the end of regular time in the first half, they dealt a second crushing blow to their opponent, who could not stand it, and Agustin Canobio struck an unsalvageable shot from the edge of the penalty area, with which he made a complete turnaround.
By the way, even when the game was stopped for the equalizing goal, Pedro Lito - Bubista wanted to make a substitution for his team. He wanted to take off Telmo Arcanjo, who was injured, and let in Deroy Duarte, who is competing for the 14-time Bulgarian champion Ludogorets. He was not allowed to do this and this change was only made at half-time before the start of the second half, when TelmoUruguay was already leading 2:1. After him, Bubista made two more changes, bringing out Gilson Tavares and former Levante player Gary Rodriguez, and in their place he released Nuno Da Costa and Helio Varela.
This turned out to be a tactical move with a huge impact, as it followed a surprising pressure from Cape Verde, in which the Uruguayans made a blatant defensive mistake, and the big culprit was goalkeeper Muslera, who came out in an attempt to clear, swung ridiculously, and the fresh reserve Varela stole the ball and a moment later knocked the ball, sending it into the South American goal for the second time since the start of the match, and the result was again equal.
Seven minutes later, the South Americans caused a great carom in the opponent's penalty area and forced the Cape Verde defenders to send the ball for the third time into the goal, guarded by Vozinha. However, their joy was quickly cut short when the referee flagged an offside, and then the head referee Espen Escaas from Norway ordered a review of the situation using the VAR system. It only confirmed that the goal of the one-time world champions was invalid, and the match continued with a 2:2 draw.
However, the situation became a little more tense and Escaas decided to give the second break for hydration right here and the rivals resumed the match with no less enthusiasm, but with more self-control over their nerves. Marcelo Bielsa took advantage of the break and made his first substitution during the match. He brought in Nicolas de la Cruz and Darwin Nunes, who replaced Manuel Ugarte and Federico Viñas.
However, the changes did not give the necessary result, as the Russians again went into total domination mode, and the misses followed one after another. Cape Verde, on the other hand, had its counterattack opportunities and almost managed to create an even bigger sensation.
Shortly before the end of regular time, the pressure of the South Americans became even more relentless and they reached three corner kicks. Exactly in the 90th minute, Valverde failed to become the big hero for his team from a free kick.
In the 3rd minute of extra time, the drama became even greater. The "Gauchos" logically cracked and allowed a counterattack from their rivals in red sports teams. So Laros Duarte decided not to stand on ceremony and not to play unnecessarily, but instead shot. There, however, a defender in "light blue" decisively stretched out his leg and started a counterattack. The author of the goal that brought the Uruguayans to a complete turnaround at the end of the first half, Agustin Canobio, advanced at breakneck speed and when he reached the required distance, pulled the trigger, and the ball went out of bounds.
In the 5th minute of extra time, Nuno Da Costa from Cape Verde also came close to scoring a huge sensation and shot beyond the penalty area, and Fernando Muslera had to make another save in a match for which he had not even imagined that he would have so much work.
This is how the match continued to develop in its remainder, and the four goals were the least that the two teams could offer to the 64 thousand in the stands of the "Hard Rock Stadium", who will definitely remember the match with one of the most attractive matches so far from the groups of the championship on the planet.
URUGUAY 2:2 CAPE VERDE
0:1 Kevin Pina (21')
1:1 Maximilian Araujo (44')
2:1 Agustín Canobio (45'+6')
2:2 Helio Varela (61')
WORLD CUP 2026, GROUP PHASE
GROUP "H", 2ND ROUND
STARTING LINEUPS
URUGUA: 23. Fernando Muslera, 13. Guillermo Varela, 3. Sebastian Caceres, 16. Matias Olivera, 25. Juan Sanabria, 8. Federico Valverde, 6. Rodrigo Bentancur, 5. Manuel Ugarte, 14. Agustin Canobio, 21. Federico Viñas, 20. Maximiliano Araujo
COACH: Marcelo Bielsa
CABO VERDE: 1. Vozinha, 22. Steven Moreira, 4. Roberto Lopez, 3. Dinay, 13. Sidney Lopez Cabral, 6. Kevin Pina, 20. Ryan Mendes, 18. Telmo Arcanjo, 10. Telmo Arcanjo, 11. Gary Rodriguez, 9. Gilson Tavares
COACH: Pedro Lito - Bubista
STADIUM: "Hard Rock Stadium", Miami (Florida, USA)
MAIN REFEREE: Espen Escaas (Norway)