Group H has been thrown into chaos as goalkeeping errors and absolute grit have led to Cabo Verde pulling another surprise, drawing Uruguay 2-2 on Saturday. The Blue Sharks were able to follow up their wildly shocking draw with Spain by scoring their first World Cup goals in their history and setting themselves up for a chance to advance with a victory over Saudi Arabia, but thanks to third-placed teams getting through, even a draw may be enough depending on Uruguay’s final-day result as Marcelo Bielsa’s men take on Spain.

“Since the beginning, what we’ve been saying is that we can compete at the highest level, and that’s what we’ve been doing in these two matches. And more important than the result is that we’ve been able to show our strength and resilience. We’re here to compete and try to qualify for the second round. That’s what the team wants, and that’s what we’ll try to do,” Cabo Verde manager Bubista said following the match. “And now we’re at a point where we’ll definitely fight for qualification.”

The third smallest country to ever qualify for the World Cup and being placed in a group with Spain and Uruguay, few gave Cabo Verde a chance to advance out of their group, let alone do much of anything, but only 21 minutes into the match, midfielder Kevin Pina drove a seeing-eye free kick under Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera to give his side the lead.

While Uruguay struggled to put things together in the first half, Maxi Araujo scored one goal and assisted another right before halftime in a moment when it seemed like Cabo Verde’s charmed run would be coming to an end, but more keeper errors would give them a chance to equalize in the second half, as their physical style frustrated Uruguay. Substitute Helio Varela caught Muselera off his line to equalize after only being on the pitch for three minutes. It shows the depth that Bubista’s team has, as they’ve been able to hang around for 90-plus minutes in both of their matches to ensure that they’ll have a chance to get out of the group.

Ranked 16th in the FIFA rankings, this is beyond a disappointing showing for Uruguay, and they could end up being knocked out of World Cup contention. With results such as this and Curacao drawing Ecuador, despite the World Cup expanding to 48 teams, it’s clear that everyone came to play and any squad in the world can be stopped on any night. 

Confidence is flowing for the Blue Sharks as they’re not only happy to be at this stage, they want to advance to the knockouts, and Bubista is laser-focused on that.

“Considering what we’ve done facing two great teams, our focus has to be on classifying,” he said.

They’ll face Saudi Arabia on Friday at NRG Stadium in Houston. Win that game, and Cabo Verde are through, but lose that, and Saudi Arabia will be able to advance while knocking Cabo Verde out of contention. So they have to keep focus, as while their hardest games may be behind them, it’s a different type of soccer where a draw could end up being enough.

It’s an extra meaningful match for Bubista as he views Bielsa as a master of the game. He gave the Uruguayan manager a token to remember Cabo Verde by as they exchanged some friendly words ahead of the match before leading his squad to history. 

Now, they are sitting in prime position while Uruguay will need to figure out their finishing over the next few days or they could be knocked out on the final day of play as Cabo Verde strike again.