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6 hours ago
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Key events
Saudi Arabia lead in xG, 0.06 to 0.02. Isn’t xG weird?
29 min Half-chance for Cape Verde as Livramento turns on his defender and put in a cross that wasn’t far off the mark. Cape Verde maintain possession and put it back in.
Saudi Arabia recover, but now center back Al-Tambakti is down getting treatment.
28 min Play has resumed, and Willy Semedo earns a free kick just past midfield. Lively player getting his first start for Cape Verde.
24 min Another buildup on the left from Cape Verde. Another pass straight to a defender.
Let’s hope things improve after everyone hydrates, now …
23 min The corner kick is played straight to a Saudi Arabian defender. This game is officially frustrating.
22 min SHOT ON GOAL from Willy Semedo, and Saudi Arabian keeper Al-Owais makes a mess of it, conceding a corner.
From browsing Tom Lutz’s coverage during a brief break, it appears Spain have the lion’s share of possession against Uruguay, but Uruguay have had some chances. A Uruguay win would be unwelcome news for these teams.
20 min Cape Verde look for Mendes on the right. Played out for a Cape Verde corner, but they get pushed back, and they again play the ball back to Vozinha.
19 min Free kick Saudi Arabia, but again, not a lot of attacking intent. They know they need a win, right?
18 min NOW it’s a shot – Saudi Arabia cross sails over the penalty area, but it’s again Salem on the left, and he hits a venomous strike, but Wagner Pina is back to block.
17 min So far, we’d have to say this game is … not great. Still plenty of time, obviously. We’re still in the first quarter.
16 min Salem Al-Dawsari has space on the left, but Cape Verde track back to clear – only to dump the ball out of play. Oops.
14 min Cape Verde win a throw-in very deep in Saudi Arabia’s half. Remember 1994, when some Cup games were played on narrow fields in stadiums not built with soccer in mind? Imagine how these long throw-ins would’ve played out on those fields.
Back in the present day, Cape Verde may have had a shout for a foul, but nothing is called, and Saudi Arabia play forward.
13 min Good pass to Letexier, marred only by the fact that he is the referee. He drops the ball to Saudi Arabia … wait … why?
12 min It’s a scrum – no, wait, rugby people insist that a haphazard crowd around a loose ball is a ruck. Cape Verde clear from their own box.
10 min Is it on here for Cape Verde? No, because Saudi Arabia have about 14 players back. A clever flick-on in the buildup, but there’s just no room to carry it through.
9 min The kick is taken backwards. Reserved start in this one.
8 min Saudi Arabia with the neatest triangles this side of Angine de Poitrine, but they never work the ball too far forward.
They earn a free kick, though, and Wagner Pina picks up yellow for swinging his arm back recklessly as he tries to hold off Salem Al-Dawsari.
7 min The Cape Verde patience wears thin, and they play into space for Mendes, but he can’t win the footrace.
6 min Cape Verde have had plenty of possession, but it’s all within 35 yards of their own goal. They finally work it ahead toward Mendes, who earns a throw-in. They’re almost across midfield … no, wait, they’ve passed backwards.
5 min Cape Verde have played the ball on the ground back to their keeper several times now, and at least once, the situation from a split second away from becoming dodgy.
4 min Kind of an overexuberant foul there from Abdulhamid, the only player on the Saudi Arabian side based somewhere other than Saudi Arabia. He flies with impressive hang time into a challenge and slams into João Paulo at the shoulders and above.
Yellow card.
2 min Saudi Arabia sportingly stopped the ball at midfield, making it easier for the referee to blow the whistle and stop play. Mendes is back up.
Cape Verde show their first sign of attacking intent. Saudi Arabia counter, and social media star Vozinha comes out to cover.
1 min Choppy start, but now Saudi Arabia will control.
Play stops, though, because Ryan Mendes is down after a knee-to-knee collision.
Francois Letexier is the ref. Marco Di Bello is the lead VAR; US ref Joe Dickerson also is in front of the screens.
We’re off …
Scenario reminders
If Cape Verde win, they will advance – likely as the second-place team, but if Uruguay also win but by fewer goals than Cape Verde, the Blue Sharks would win the group.
If Saudi Arabia win, they will almost certainly advance – as the second-place team if Uruguay fail to beat Spain, otherwise as a highly probable third-place qualifier. They could win the group if they win by eight more goals than Spain’s margin. So if Spain win 1-0, I believe a 9-0 win for Saudi Arabia would do the trick.
If they draw, Cape Verde will advance as the second place team if Uruguay lose or score two fewer goals than Cape Verde. If Uruguay lose by one fewer goal than Cape Verde, we’ll go to conduct points, which I definitely don’t have time to calculate right now. And even if none of that comes to pass, Cape Verde would have a half-decent shot as a third-place team with a level goal difference.
Saudi Arabia will be out if they don’t win.
Not enough preview info for you?
Check the team guides and look up any player in the tournament, including their player ratings so far, in our player guide.
There’s apparently another game taking place at the same time, so please follow along with Tom Lutz.
The bracket in progress …
The upside of having a 48-team tournament is seeing teams like Cape Verde show up and surprise.
The downside is having some seriously uneven competitive balance.
Not that US people should be complaining. With all due respect to Bosnia and potential round of 16 opponents Egypt, Iran and Third-Place Side TBD, the co-host’s path is a bit easier than, say, Germany and France, who’ll face off July 4 in Philadelphia (Liberty Bell special!) unless they falter against a third-place team. The winner of that murderous bracket would likely face the Netherlands after they cruise past Morocco and either South Africa or Canada.
England’s reward for winning the group and their first-round match would be a date with Mexico … in Mexico City.
If there is no draw in this game and if Spain beat Uruguay (or if various tiebreakers fall the right way), the winner here will take second place in the group and face … Argentina. Congratulations? They might prefer taking third and potentially facing Egypt or Iran, then the USA.
Your snacks for this game are ...
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Cape Verde: Chicken and chorizo croquettes, Strela beer or maybe Super Bock.
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Saudi Arabia: Shawarma wraps, mango juice, lemon soda and Arabic coffee.
Note to self: It’s time to visit my cousins in Boston and swing by a Cape Verdean restaurant.
I have simpler advice, though, for people in the UK looking for traditional American snacks. Just go to Five Guys.
Lineups
Cape Verde: Vozinha; Paulo, Diney, Pico, W. Pina; K. Pina; W. Semedo, Monteiro, D. Duarte, Mendes; Livramento
Saudi Arabia: Al-Owais; Boushal, Al-Amri, Al-Tambakti, Abdulhamid; S. Al-Dawsari, N. Al-Dawsari, Al-Khaibari, Mandash; Kanno, Al-Buraikan
Tons of changes for Cape Verde:
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Paulo and Wagner Pina get their first starts, replacing the suspended Sidny Lopes Cabral and fellow fullback Steven Moreira.
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Willy Semedo is the third player to start at left mid after Jovane Cabral in Game 1 and Garry Rodrigues in Game 2.
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Livramento returns as the starting striker after Benchimol played vs. Uruguay.
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Kevin Pina and Jamiro Monteiro get their third starts in central midfield, but Deroy Duarte starts ahead of Game 1 starter Laros Duarte and Game 2 starter Telmo Arcanjo.
For Saudi Arabia, the players rotating into the lineup are Nawaf Boushal, Sultan Mandash and Mohamed Kanno. Mandash has not played yet in this tournament; Kanno started the opener and was a sub in the second game. Ali Lajami is out, as are Moteb Al-Harbi and Musab Al-Juwayr.
Players to watch
CAPE VERDE
Ryan Mendes is set to become the first Cape Verde player with 100 caps. He’s also the only player with more 20 goals in their national team history.
Second on the all-time appearances list is the new Instagram sensation Vozinha, who is set to pick up his 93rd cap.
We still haven’t seen Villarreal defender Logan Costa, who suffered an ACL injury in preseasons last summer. He’s on the roster, but that may be a bit of optimism. But another accomplished defender, Wagner Pina (Trabzonspor), is in the lineup tonight.
Kevin Pina (Krasnodar) and Hélio Varela (Maccabi Tel Aviv) were the goal-scorers vs. Uruguay, the latter netting the equalizer as a substitute after staying on the bench in the 0-0 draw with Spain. Varela will be on the bench tonight.
Steven Moreira (Columbus Crew) was the 2024 defender of the year in Major League Soccer, but he has moved to the bench tonight.
And we have to mention the Dublin-born Shamrock Rovers defender Pico Lopes.
SAUDI ARABIA
The only player on the roster who isn’t based in the lucrative Saudi Pro League is right back Saud Abdulhamid (Lens).
No forwards or midfielders have scored for Saudi Arabia through two games. Defender Abdulelah Al-Amri had the goal against Uruguay.
Left midfielder and captain Salem Al-Dawsari has 113 caps and 27 goals in his international career.
Goalkeeper Mohammad Al-Owais was in goal for the 2022 win over Argentina and earned a rating of 9 from The Guardian’s staff for the opening game here, a 1-1 draw vs. Uruguay.
Preamble
A couple of groups have a game like this -- one team (Cape Verde in this case, Belgium later) will advance with a win and will be very good shape with a draw, while the other team (Saudi Arabia now, New Zealand later) will either win and advance or fail to win and fly home.
Cape Verde have already posted one of the greatest underdog performances in World Cup history, managing draws against traditional powerhouses Spain and Uruguay, the former on a stupendous shot-stopping stint by the 40-year-old goalkeeper they call Vozinha. His Instagram following has grown from about 50,000 to a current total of 16.7 million, and increase of more than 33,000%.
The island nation, which lies 600km west of Senegal, had never made it to the final tournament until this year. They’ve done so in an ideal situation, playing in front of the substantial diaspora in the United States.
I have to mention a quick personal note on Saudi Arabia. In 1994, I repeatedly called the phone number for World Cup tickets. When I got through, I basically asked which game I could get. “How about Belgium vs. Saudi Arabia?” they said. “Great,” I said. “Let’s do it.” So my then-girlfriend and I traveled up to Washington, where I would end up living four years later, to see two teams of complete strangers as far as I knew.
And I just happened to see the best goal of the tournament, with Said Al-Owairan doing his impression of Maradona vs. England. (The *good* goal, not the Hand of God.)
But that’s the last time Saudi Arabia have reached the knockout rounds, despite stunning Argentina 2-1 in the two teams’ 2022 opener.
Lest we forget – Saudi Arabia will host this event in 2034.
This is the first matchup between two countries separated by the width of Africa and a few hundred miles of water.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s your initial briefing on this matchup, courtesy of Graham Ruthven’s daily watch guide:
What to watch for
Cape Verde have been one of the best underdog stories of the World Cup so far and have given themselves a strong chance of making it out of Group H. But can the Blue Sharks impose their own game on an opponent after playing with their backs to the wall against Uruguay and Spain?
Saudi Arabia started their tournament with an admirable draw against Uruguay, but haven’t won a World Cup game since 2022 when they memorably got the better of Lionel Messi and Argentina. Georgios Donis must get more out of his attacking players to make the knockout rounds.
Player to watch: Vozinha, Cape Verde – The 40-year-old goalkeeper has been one of the unexpected stars of the World Cup and will have at least one more opportunity to demonstrate his shot-stopping ability.
