Monday, June 22, 2026, 09:52 GMT+7

Brave Cape Verde hold Uruguay to 2-2 draw in World Cup

MIAMI -- Uruguay and Cape Verde played out a 2-2 draw in their second World Cup Group H game in which the tournament debutants went toe-to-toe with the South American heavyweights in an entertaining end-to-end game on Sunday.

Cape Verde, who drew 0-0 with Spain in their opening match, took the lead in the ⁠21st minute after Telmo Arcanjo earned a free kick following a blistering run and Kevin Pina stepped up to drill home a low shot from 31 meters out for his country's first ever goal at the World Cup finals.

Uruguay turned things around before halftime, however, when Maxi Araujo pounced on a rebound ‌to ⁠equalize with a header before he set up Agustin Canobbio with another header to make it 2-1 at the break.

Cape Verde substitute Helio Varela struck two minutes after ⁠coming on in the second half when he pounced on Mathias Olivera's loose back pass in no man's land, ⁠drawing the goalkeeper off his line to fire into an empty net.

Both teams are on two ⁠points behind group leaders Spain, who have four points heading into the final round of games.