Cape Verde Islands vs Saudi Arabia — World Cup 2026 Group · Matchday 3
Match preview / What to expect
Updated Jun 6, 2026Cape Verde meet Saudi Arabia in Group H, with both debutants and dark horses chasing a famous result. Cape Verde's historic qualification is one of the stories of the tournament, and Bubista's side carry genuine threat in Ryan Mendes and Garry Rodrigues.
Saudi Arabia, organised under their staff and roared on by passionate support, lean on the experience of Salem Al-Dawsari and Firas Al-Buraikan up front.
With little between them on paper, this shapes as a tight, evenly matched contest where one moment of quality could settle it.
Key storylines
- 01Cape Verde's fairytale World Cup debut continues
- 02Al-Dawsari's experience key for Saudi Arabia
- 03A finely balanced clash between two ambitious outsiders
Prediction
Cape Verde Islands 1-1 Saudi Arabia
Projected lineups
Projected XI — not confirmed
Cape Verde Islands
Formation 4-3-3- 1Vozinha
- 2Wagner Pina
- 3Logan Costa
- 4Steven Moreira
- 5Stopira
- 6Jamiro Monteiro
- 7Deroy Duarte
- 8Kevin Pina
- 9Garry Rodrigues
- 10Ryan Mendes
- 11Dailon Livramento
Saudi Arabia
Formation 4-2-3-1- 1Mohammed Al Owais
- 2Saud Abdulhamid
- 3Hassan Tambakti
- 4Ali Lajami
- 5Ali Majrashi
- 6Mohamed Kanno
- 7Nasser Al Dawsari
- 8Salem Al Dawsari
- 9Musab Al Juwayr
- 10Saleh Al Shehri
- 11Feras Al Brikan
Team news
Cape Verde Islands
- Mendes and Rodrigues provide Cape Verde's cutting edge
- Logan Costa anchors the defence
Saudi Arabia
- Salem Al-Dawsari the Saudi talisman
- Al-Buraikan leads the line
Sources
Preview is editorial. Projected lineups are not confirmed team sheets.
Predict this match
Cape Verde IslandsSaudi ArabiaExact 3 pts · correct result 1 pt
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