India, July 4 -- Cabo Verde showed everyone why, in football, the size of a country means very little. In their first-ever World Cup, they made life difficult for established football nations like Spain, Uruguay and Argentina. They went unbeaten in the group stage, holding both Spain and Uruguay to draws before finishing ahead of the two-time world champions to reach the knockout stage. In the Round of 32, they shocked the footballing world again by pushing defending champions Argentina to extra time and making them battle until the final whistle. A nation with a population of just over 500,000, playing at its maiden World Cup, took the world champions to their limits and came close to one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.

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