Unjustly penalized and wrongly judged! A last-minute winning goal was disallowed, halting the progress of a small nation with a population of 540,000; only a victory in the next match will secure their World Cup spot.

On October 9th, Beijing time, the 9th round of the African World Cup qualifiers began with high intensity. A recent thrilling encounter featured Cape Verde hosting Libya. If Cape Verde had won, they would have directly qualified for the World Cup, marking a historic achievement. Sadly, their decisive goal was ruled out, resulting in a 3-3 draw with Libya. Therefore, Cape Verde missed the chance for early qualification and now needs to win the last round to reach the World Cup!

Many may not have heard of Cape Verde, a small African country with a population of just 546,000. Despite its size, the nation excels in basketball and football. In this World Cup qualifying campaign, Cape Verde topped the standings, even surpassing Cameroon, and showed great promise to reach their first-ever World Cup. Hosting Libya today, a relatively weaker opponent, Cape Verde had a strong chance to qualify early. Unfortunately, they were unfairly treated!

After the match started, the home team Libya scored an own goal, unexpectedly taking the lead. Cape Verde quickly responded with an equalizer. Libya then scored two more goals to extend their lead to 3-1. Cape Verde fought back fiercely, scoring twice within six minutes to level the score at 3-3. In stoppage time, Cape Verde had a 4-on-1 scoring opportunity and converted a breakaway goal, but it was ruled offside and disallowed. The match ended in a 3-3 draw between Cape Verde and Libya!

From the goal’s trajectory, there was clearly no offside, making this a clear wrongful decision. Despite this, Cape Verde could only suffer in silence, unable to protest, especially since they are too poor to have VAR technology. Although they did not qualify early and faced strong obstacles, Cape Verde still leads the group standings by 2 points over traditional powerhouse Cameroon. In the final round, Cape Verde will face Swaziland, who have yet to win a match and sit at the bottom of the table. Thus, Cape Verde retains control, needing only a win in the last game to qualify for the World Cup!

Written by / Sports Fiction