Cape Verde

Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) is an island nation of roughly 560,000 people located in the North Atlantic Ocean, around 570 kilometres off the west coast of Senegal. In March 2026, Cape Verde qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, becoming one of four nations to make their tournament debut in the first 48-team edition. It is the country's first-ever appearance at a World Cup.

Cape Verde has historically punched above its weight in African football. The national team, known as the Blue Sharks, has qualified for multiple Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and produced players who compete in top European leagues. The pool of diaspora talent across Portugal, the Netherlands and other European nations has been central to the team's development.

The historic qualification is shadowed by a significant barrier for Cape Verdean supporters: the country is among the five qualified World Cup nations subject to the US Visa Bond Pilot Programme, requiring nationals to post bonds of up to $15,000 per person to receive a tourist visa for the United States. The State Department, which added Cape Verde to the list when it expanded the programme, confirmed on 7 April that it has no estimates for how these measures will affect tournament attendance. For a nation of 560,000 , one of Africa's smallest , the bond represents a near-total exclusion of ordinary fans from the tournament their team qualified for.