Cape Verde Islands vs Saudi Arabia, Worldcup 2026 GROUP STAGE
Overview
Match Preview
Cape Verde Islands vs Saudi Arabia — Worldcup at NRG Stadium.
- Cape Verde Islands 3 games · 3 pts (2026/26)
- Saudi Arabia 3 games · 2 pts (2026/26)
Match Details
- Referee Francois Letexier
- Assistant 1 Cyril Mugnier
- Assistant 2 Mehdi Rahmouni
19 games this season
🟨 2.5/game
⚽ 6.7 goals/game
🟥 1 total
Standings
| # | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | South Africa | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | South Korea | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Czechia | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | Switzerland | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Canada | 3 | 4 |
| 7 | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 3 | 4 |
| 8 | Qatar | 3 | 1 |
| 9 | Brazil | 3 | 7 |
| 10 | Morocco | 3 | 7 |
| 11 | Scotland | 3 | 3 |
| 12 | Haiti | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | United States | 3 | 6 |
| 14 | Australia | 3 | 4 |
| 15 | Paraguay | 3 | 4 |
| 16 | Turkey | 3 | 3 |
| 17 | Germany | 3 | 6 |
| 18 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 6 |
| 19 | Ecuador | 3 | 4 |
| 20 | Curaçao | 3 | 1 |
| 21 | Netherlands | 3 | 7 |
| 22 | Japan | 3 | 5 |
| 23 | Sweden | 3 | 4 |
| 24 | Tunisia | 3 | 0 |
| 25 | Belgium | 3 | 5 |
| 26 | Egypt | 3 | 5 |
| 27 | Iran | 3 | 3 |
| 28 | New Zealand | 3 | 1 |
| 29 | Spain | 3 | 7 |
| 30 | Cape Verde Islands | 3 | 3 |
| 31 | Uruguay | 3 | 2 |
| 32 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 2 |
| 33 | France | 3 | 9 |
| 34 | Norway | 3 | 6 |
| 35 | Senegal | 3 | 3 |
| 36 | Iraq | 3 | 0 |
| 37 | Argentina | 3 | 9 |
| 38 | Austria | 3 | 4 |
| 39 | Algeria | 3 | 4 |
| 40 | Jordan | 3 | 0 |
| 41 | Colombia | 3 | 7 |
| 42 | Portugal | 3 | 5 |
| 43 | Congo DR | 3 | 4 |
| 44 | Uzbekistan | 3 | 0 |
| 45 | England | 3 | 7 |
| 46 | Croatia | 3 | 6 |
| 47 | Ghana | 3 | 4 |
| 48 | Panama | 3 | 0 |
Head-to-Head
Last 5 meetings
Recent Form
Season Stats
| Cape Verde Islands | Saudi Arabia | |
|---|---|---|
| #30 | Position | #32 |
| 3 | Points | 2 |
| 3 | Played | 3 |
| 0 / 3 / 0 | W / D / L | 0 / 2 / 1 |
| 2 | Scored | 1 |
| 2 | Conceded | 5 |
| +0 | GD | -4 |
| 1.00 | PPG | 0.67 |
| 0% | Win % | 0% |
Key Stats
0%
Both Teams to Score
H2H (1 games)
H2H (1 games)
0%
Over 2.5 Goals
H2H history
H2H history
50%
Clean Sheets
Cape Verde Islands this season
Cape Verde Islands this season
33%
Clean Sheets
Saudi Arabia this season
Saudi Arabia this season
Cape Verde Islands are 30th (3 pts). Saudi Arabia are 32nd (2 pts).
Goal Timing (This Season)
Cape Verde Islands
0-15
–/–
16-30
1/1
31-45
–/2
46-60
1/–
61-75
1/–
76+
1/2
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Saudi Arabia
0-15
–/1
16-30
–/2
31-45
1/–
46-60
–/–
61-75
–/–
76+
–/1
■ Scored ■ Conceded
Events
Match Events
- 0' What a night it is going to be! Cape Verde Islands welcome Saudi Arabia for this crunch clash at NRG Stadium.
- 4' Saud Abdulhamid is having his name booked by the referee on 4.
- 9' Wagner Pina is having his name booked by the referee on 9.
- 14' Cape Verde Islands seems to be on a short break. The game is mainly concentrated in the center. It’s high time they got back to action. Otherwise, it looks like a goalless game.
- 19' We miss some good tackles and strikes. Is there anyone on the field to put the game back to action?
- 24' The Array continues to deliver drama. Both Cape Verde Islands and Saudi Arabia are desperate not to drop points on matchday .
- 29' Joao Paulo has been disciplined this evening — perhaps mindful of those 0 cards already picked up this season.
- 33' It is a substitution in Saudi Arabia team. Hassan Al Tambakti is replaced by Ali Lajami on 33 minute.
- 38' Saudi Arabia is defending very well tonight not leaving a chance for their rivals to get through for a goal.
- 43' Cape Verde Islands are deployed in a 4-1-2-3 today, looking to exploit space against Saudi Arabia's 4-4-2 shape.
- 46' A change in the Saudi Arabia ranks — Abdullah Al Khaibari exits the field as Musab Al Juwayr enters on 46.
- 51' Kevin Pina has been relatively quiet despite scoring 4 goals in his last 144 appearances.
- 56' The tempo has dropped considerably in the last few minutes. Giorgios Donis will be considering his options from the bench.
- 61' Cape Verde Islands make a change. Dailon Rocha Livramento trudges off to be replaced by Nuno Da Costa on 61 minutes.
- 65' A change in the Saudi Arabia ranks — Salem Al Dawsari exits the field as Mohammed Abu Al Shamat enters on 65.
- 66' The Saudi Arabia bench stirs into life. Sultan Mandash is withdrawn and Abdullah Al-Hamdan gets his opportunity.
- 67' Nasser Al Dawsari catches the referee's attention in entirely the wrong way. card on 67.
- 71' A tactical swap from Cape Verde Islands — Garry Rodrigues on, Ryan Mendes off on 71 minutes.
- 76' A moment of individual brilliance could settle this. Both teams are waiting for that decisive action.
- 81' Nasser Al Dawsari is putting in a real shift tonight. He has covered more ground than anyone else for Saudi Arabia so far.
- 82' The crowd applauds Nawaf Boushal as he leaves the pitch. Moteb Al Harbi steps in for Saudi Arabia.
- 87' Vozinha, a Cape Verde Islands , has 0 bookings this season and will need to keep his discipline tonight.
- 90' Saudi Arabia player sees a card in front of him.
- Both sets of fans can go home satisfied — a 0-0 draw is a fair result on the day.
Lineups
Cape Verde Islands Lineups
4-1-2-3Starting XI
- 1
- 3
- 4
- 24
- 14
- 8
-
10
Jamiro Monteiro ↓ Laros Duarte 71'
- 6
- 19
-
20
Ryan Mendes ↓ Garry Rodrigues 71'
-
17
Willy Semedo ↓ Helio Varela 61'
Bench
- 23
- 12
- 5
- 22
- 25
- 2
-
15
Laros Duarte ↑ 71'
-
11
Garry Rodrigues ↑ 71'
- 16
-
26
Helio Varela ↑ 61'
- 7
-
21
Nuno Da Costa ↑ 61'
- 9
Coach
Bubista
Saudi Arabia Lineups
4-4-2Starting XI
- 21
- 12
- 4
-
5
Hassan Al Tambakti ↓ Ali Lajami 33'
-
13
Nawaf Boushal ↓ Moteb Al Harbi 82'
- 6
- 10
- 15
- 23
- 9
- 20
Bench
- 1
- 22
-
24
Moteb Al Harbi ↑ 82'
- 14
-
3
Ali Lajami ↑ 33'
- 2
- 25
- 18
- 16
-
7
Musab Al Juwayr ↑ 46'
-
26
Mohammed Abu Al Shamat ↑ 65'
- 8
- 17
-
19
Abdullah Al-Hamdan ↑ 66'
- 11
Coach
Giorgios Donis
H2H
Head to Head
Cape Verde Islands Form
Predictions
Prediction accuracy
3 / 4
0.71
Cape Verde Islands xG
Expected Goals
Dixon-Coles · Bivariate Poisson · Neg. Binomial · Elo
0.3
Saudi Arabia xG
I would bet for:
Under 2.5 goals 91% + Under — clean sheet likely 85%
Match Result
✗ WrongActual: Draw
Both Teams to Score
✓ Correct
Avg goals/match: 1.01
Actual: No — clean sheet
Over / Under Goals
✓ O/U 2.5| Line | Over | Under | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ± 0.5 | 61% |
|
39% |
| ± 1.5 | 28% |
|
72% |
| ± 2.5 | 9% |
|
91% |
| ± 3.5 | 3% |
|
97% |
| ± 4.5 | 1% |
|
99% |
Double Chance
Cape Verde Islands or Draw
84%
Draw or Saudi Arabia
58%
Cape Verde Islands or Saudi Arabia
58%
Half-Time Result
✓ CorrectActual: Draw at HT
Correct Score
✓ In top 12
0 – 0
Actual
1 – 0
24.1%
0 – 1
9%
1 – 1
8.9%
2 – 0
8.3%
2 – 1
3.2%
3 – 0
1.9%
0 – 2
1.3%
1 – 2
1.2%
3 – 1
0.8%
2 – 2
0.6%
4 – 0
0.4%
Asian Handicap — Cape Verde Islands
| Handicap | Cape Verde Islands covers | Push | Saudi Arabia covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| -2.5 | 3% | — | 97% |
| -2 | 3% | 9% | 88% |
| -1.5 | 12% | — | 88% |
| -1 | 12% | 28% | 61% |
| -0.5 | 39% | — | 61% |
| +0.5 | 88% | — | 12% |
| +1 | 88% | 10% | 2% |
| +1.5 | 98% | — | 2% |
| +2 | 98% | 1% | 0% |
| +2.5 | 100% | — | 0% |
Clean Sheet
Cape Verde Islands keeps clean sheet
74%
✓
Saudi Arabia keeps clean sheet
50%
✗
Predictions are statistical estimates based on season form, H2H history, and a Poisson model. Not financial advice.