Cape Verde continued their perfect record against Mauritius with a composed and dominant 2-0 victory at the Cote d’Or National Sports Complex in Cote d’Or on Thursday 4th September 2025 in the FIFA World Cupe 2026 Qualifiers.
Goals from Jovane Cabral and Diney Borges secured all three points for the visitors, as Mauritius once again failed to make their home advantage count in this african World Cup qualifying campaign.
Cape Verde made their intentions clear from kickoff, pushing high up the pitch and pressing the Mauritian backline. Their efforts were rewarded in the 22nd minute, when Jovane Cabral found space on the left wing, cut inside, and curled a low shot beyond the outstretched reach of the goalkeeper to give the visitors a deserved 1–0 lead.
Mauritius struggled to gain a foothold, with midfield turnovers and lack of final-third penetration preventing them from testing the Cape Verdean defense.
The home crowd at Cote d’Or hoped for a reaction after the break, but Cape Verde remained in control. Their patience paid off again in the 70th minute, when a corner kick was poorly cleared and Diney Borges reacted fastest to slot home the second goal, silencing the local fans and all but sealing the result.
Despite a couple of late substitutions from Mauritius to inject energy, they failed to register a single shot on target in the final 30 minutes, despit some good opportunities to reduce the score.
“We made mistakes and got punished. We weren’t brave enough on the ball, and it’s something we must address immediately. The referee forgot two penalties for us during the game. The fans deserved more”, said the coach of Mauritius, Guillaume Moullet.
This result pushes Cape Verde closer to a place in the next round of World Cup qualifiers, as they moved to 16 points from 7 matches, strengthening their top-two position in the group. Mauritius, meanwhile, remain in fifth place, with just 5 points and a goal difference of -6, making qualification increasingly unlikely.
Mauritius will need to regroup before their next qualifier agains Angola in Luanda on Tuesday 9th September 2025. Cape Verde, riding on the confidence of another clean-sheet win, are now clear favorites to progress from the group to the World Cup 2026.
