Cape Verde Islands are still in the middle of the tournament's biggest shock storyline. They drew 0-0 with Spain on 2026-06-15, then followed it with another remarkable result against Uruguay, and they now sit on 2 points from two matches.
Cape Verde's run stays alive
The first-half breakthrough came from Kevin Pina, who scored Cape Verde's maiden World Cup finals goal with a free-kick after 21 minutes. It was the kind of moment that turns a nice story into a serious one, because Cape Verde are not just hanging around, they are taking points and forcing bigger teams to deal with them.
Uruguay vs Cape Verde Islands also underlined how quickly this team has settled into the competition. Their next match is against Saudi Arabia, which leaves the knockout route open if they keep getting results.
Salah's night for Egypt
Mohamed Salah was the star as Egypt finally ended their long wait for a World Cup victory. Egypt recorded their first-ever World Cup win in their fourth appearance at the finals, with Salah scoring their second goal and then assisting Trezeguet from a corner in the comeback win over New Zealand.
Salah's tournament numbers now stand at 1 goal and 2 assists. Lamine Yamal also got his first World Cup goal 10 minutes into his maiden start, another reminder that the night was as much about individual moments as scorelines.
The broader picture is simple enough. Cape Verde are not fading after the Spain draw, and Salah has already been central to Egypt's most important World Cup result. Both stories are still moving, and both have another game to shape them next.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
