Stories of Cape Verde and Norway vindicate World Cup’s expansion

The traditional powerhouses of global soccer may have largely made it into the latter stages of the 2026 Fifa World Cup, but it’s a handful of so-called smaller nations that has left an indelible mark on fans of the sport around the world. Not least, Africa’s own Cape Verde.

The small island nation, located just off the coast of West Africa, made a major impression during the four matches of their debut at the World Cup, cohosted by the US, Mexico and Canada. After finishing the group phase undefeated with three draws against Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, they fought to the death before falling to a 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the round of 32.

Despite their loss, they walked away from the tournament with the respect of many soccer lovers from all over the world. This is evident in the appreciation for 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Josimar “Vozinha” Dias on social media. His Instagram followers grew from fewer than 50,000 before the tournament to well over 20 million now.

Beyond this impact on individuals such as ­Vozinha, as well as his teammates, the World Cup has also put Cape Verde as a country and potential tourist destination on the radar of many World Cup lovers. Without the tournament being expanded from 32 teams to 48, the Blue Sharks might not have been able to qualify.

Under the previous format of the quadrennial soccer spectacle, only five African countries could reach the World Cup. Fifa’s expansion of it, which was formalised in 2017 before being introduced this year, has granted opportunities for such countries to reach the global stage with more frequency.

Of course, as noted by Cape Verde coach Pedro Leitão Brito, commonly known as Bubista, the more they play at World Cups, the more development they can attain as a country. “We demonstrated that our World Cup qualification wasn’t down to luck.

“We showed hard work and resilience and we left the US with our heads held high,” Bubista said of his team’s World Cup campaign.

“We’re sad [to be eliminated], of course. We’re sad because we’re ​leaving the competition and be­cause we got so close, so close [to beating Argentina]. Even though they were sad, the ​players were hugging each other. They were crying. This is part of growing. This helps us grow, and also shows that the team has a soul.

“I feel ​pride in my players and what they did. They did it with dignity and courage. They ⁠did it with bravery and never did we lose our identity. More than just ⁠playing, this was about showing the world our identity,” Bubista added.

“Ours was a team that, throughout the entire tournament, for as long as we were here, wanted to play. And we wanted ⁠to play ​against the best teams in the world.”

And play they did. The team earned the respect of one the game’s greats, Lionel ­Messi. Sharing the conversation that took place between him and Messi when he asked for the Argentinian captain’s shirt after their round-of-32 battle, glovesman Vozinha said: “I went up to Messi after the game. He hugged me and said, ‘You are great. Your people should be proud of you.’

“That was incredible for me. Hearing words like that from someone like Leo Messi means a lot to me. I thanked him.”

Norwegian Vikings surge

Without the World Cup morphing into its current format, such stories would have been impossible. Even European countries such as Norway have benefited. Before 2026, the Norwegians had last qualified for the 1998 World Cup. On that occasion, they reached the round of 16 before Italy eliminated them.

At the 2026 showpiece, the Norwegians have been stellar. They finished second behind France in a group that also featured African heavyweights Senegal, as well as minnows Iraq. Then they edged another African juggernaut, Ivory Coast, 2-1 in the round of 32.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and his fellow Norwegians showed that they are worthy World Cup participants when they outclassed five-time world champions Brazil 2-1 to set up a quarter­final clash against England on Saturday, 11 July, which they lost 2-1, marking their exit from the competition.

In a beautiful twist of fate, the Norwegians are coached by Ståle Solbakken.

Though he played in three of his country’s four matches at the 1998 World Cup, Sol­­­bakken was an unused substitute shouting suggestions to the coach, Egil Olsen, when Norway turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory against Brazil in their final group game 28 years ago.

Solbakken, who won 58 caps for his country, was a player for Danish club Copenhagen in 2001 when he suffered a heart attack and collapsed during a training session. By the time an ambulance arrived, he had been clinically dead for seven minutes. He woke up in hospital, his soccer career over.

In 24 of the 25 years since his forced retirement, Solbakken has been a manager, coaching clubs such as Wolves, Cologne and Copenhagen. In 2020, he took over the national team. After failing to qualify for the Euros two years ago, he took Norway to their first major tournament since Euro 2000.

“It is difficult to put into words, but it’s a fantastic feeling,” said Norway captain Martin Ødegaard. “Everything we have been through and seeing the steps we have taken, what we do on the pitch against very good teams, going through in the World Cup, playing good games, celebrating with our fans with the whole country behind us… It doesn’t get much better than that.

“It is crazy to see all the pictures from Norway and all the support, the engagement and the celebration. We have dreamt of days like this since we were young.
“We have seen pictures from when Norway beat Brazil in 1998 and heard stories about it. Now we are writing our own history.”

Expansion criticism persists

In spite of such beautiful stories coming from the 2026 tournament, there are still people who believe that the expansion of the World Cup was just a money-grab by Fifa and the federation’s commercial partners.

There remains a notion that the World Cup should be an exclusive event that features mostly the traditional powerhouses, who have all the resources at their disposal to develop their soccer structures.

One critic of the World Cup being expanded, alongside Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin, is Carlos Queiroz. The Portuguese coach led Ghana to the round of 32 at this year’s World Cup, but has since vacated his position after his team was eliminated by Colombia. Queiroz was highly critical of Fifa’s expansion while at the tournament.

“The number of teams that can qualify for this competition can turn it into something vulgar and ordinary. When so many teams can qualify, is the value still rare? That would seem debatable to me. But it is only my opinion,” said Queiroz.

“The World Cup should be something with meaning and significance. It should be rare. But, as you know, today money talks in the game. Where we used to talk about football, it is now moneyball.”

Queiroz is right in some ways, but not in the way he probably thinks. Countries such as Cape Verde need World Cup money to ensure that they can also become regulars at this prestigious event. The more it remains an exclusive club, the more fans will always see the same countries competing.

Maybe 64 par­­ticipating countries is the next best move? DM