Kuala Lampur, July 2 -- Every World Cup needs its impossible story. In 1966, it was North Korea and Pak Doo-ik defeating Italy. In 1990, it was Cameroon and Roger Milla reviving the spirit of football against all odds. In 2026, that role belongs most clearly to Cape Verde.

An archipelago nation with a population smaller than many European cities has negotiated a punishing group containing Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. It has done so not with arrogance, but with discipline, diaspora talent and emotional force. Its goalkeeper Vozinha, in tears after Cape Verde secured its passage, captured the meaning of the tournament: small countries can have very large hearts.

Cape Verde will next meet Argentina in Miami, the adopted city of Lionel ...