World Cup 2026: Pico Lopes and Cape Verde advance, as keeper’s error knocks out Uruguay

Although Shamrock Rovers’ captain Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes has not quite proved the slogan right, he can now claim to have done more than anyone else to further the case that the League of Ireland is actually the ‘greatest league in the world’. Last night marked another huge success for the Dublin-born centre back, as Cape Verde drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia and advanced to the knockouts, taking second place in Group H.

Their group’s final day was always going to be cagey, with every team having a chance of going through and only Spain guaranteed a spot in the knockouts. Cape Verde missed a couple of sitters late on, but the Blue Sharks were able to qualify with three draws thanks to Spain’s 1-0 win over Uruguay. Lopes could have been playing Sligo away next Friday; instead he’ll be playing against Messi.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay were one of the tournament’s biggest disappointments and were dumped out after a poor game and a dreadful winning goal for Spain. The commentary generously suggested that Álex Baena’s strike “asked the question” of Uruguay’s veteran keeper Fernando Muslera. That question seemed to be “have you played in goal before?”, but the 40-year-old only managed to deflect the tame effort into the bottom corner. Apparently, he asked to be subbed at half-time, and Bielsa obliged.

Ousmane Dembélé registered a superb hat-trick and Désiré Doué added one late on to complete a 4-1 victory for France over Norway. Norway effectively boycotted the game, changing ten of their starting 11 from the Senegal win, including Erling Haaland, setting up a date with Cote d’Ivoire in the knockout stages.

Elsewhere in Group I, Iraq exited the competition, as Senegal put together a medley of excellent goals and now look well placed to qualify for the knockouts from third place.

Belgium knocked out New Zealand with a 5-1 win in Group G, claiming top spot. Leandro Trossard notched two, as De Bruyne and Lukaku opened their accounts for this World Cup, while Elijah Just rounded off his impressive tournament for the All-Whites with a goal.

Iran will be kicking themselves that they didn’t finish second in that group, after missing a penalty, hitting the crossbar twice and having a last-minute winner ruled out for offside against Egypt. The Pharaohs hung on to take second, while Iran will likely squeeze into the next round in third place.

Results:

Group I – Norway 1 (Aasgaard 21) France 4 (Dembélé 7, 20, 32, Doué 90+4)

Group I – Senegal 5 (Diarra 4, Sarr 56, Gueye 59, 71, Ndiaye 82) Iraq 0

Group H – Cape Verde 0 Saudi Arabia 0

Group H – Uruguay 0 Spain 1 (Baena)

Group G – New Zealand 1 (Just 84) Belgium 5 (Trossard 28, 50, De Bruyne 66, Lukaku 86, Saelemaekers 90+4)

Group G – Egypt 1 (Saber 5) Iran 1 (Rezaeian 14)

Goal of the day: You could take your pick from Senegal’s last three goals, but Pape Gueye’s second of the game stood out for the sheer power on the strike. Fifa must have installed reinforced nets in Toronto because that ball was travelling.

Moment of the day: What else, but the moment that Cape Verde clinched second place in their group? They had the initial relief of securing their own point, and then at 1.30 of this video, they hear the final whistle of Spain-Uruguay, and the joy of their incredible achievement fully settles in.

Picture of the day: Marcelo Bielsa has never been known for his cheery demeanour, and his tenure as Uruguay manager has been particularly difficult. The loss to Spain was ‘El Loco’s’ final game as boss of La Celeste, but it’s fair to say he didn’t look very excited about it beforehand. In hindsight, he was better off not getting his hopes up.

Question of the day: Eighteen-year-old Lamine Yamal scored his first World Cup goal against Saudi Arabia, but who is the youngest Spanish player to score at the World Cup? (Answer below)

Coming up today:

Group L – Panama v England (10pm Irish time, RTÉ2 & UTV); Croatia v Ghana (10pm, RTÉ Player & ITV4)

Group K – Colombia v Portugal (12.30am, RTÉ2 & BBC One); DR Congo v Uzbekistan (12.30am, RTÉ Player & BBC Two)

Group J – Jordan v Argentina (3am, RTÉ2 & BBC One); Algeria v Austria (3am, RTÉ Player & BBC Two)

Elsewhere in sport: The quarter-finals of the All-Ireland football championship start today, with Cork playing Mayo and Kerry facing their old rivals Tyrone. In cricket, Nathan Johns watched as Ireland caused an upset to gain their first win over India on Friday in Stormont.

In rugby, former Ireland women’s rugby coach Phillip Doyle has died aged 61. Doyle won a Grand Slam with Ireland in 2013 and masterminded a World Cup win over New Zealand in 2014. John O’Sullivan reports.

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