2023 World Cup qualifiers: Cape Verde make history

Cape Verde are celebrating. The island nation has secured its place at the Basketball World Cup, scheduled for 20 August to 10 September in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. The islanders, beaten the day before by Angola, responded superbly to win 79-64 at the Pavilhao Multiusos do Kilamba.

Ivan Almeida produced a superb game to lead his side to victory, scoring 18 points. He was well supported by Betinho Gomes (15 points) and Walter Tavares (13 points). It was a fine performance from the Cape Verdeans, who went out in the quarter-finals at the last Afrobasket. Tavarez was one of the key figures in this qualification. At 2.20 m, Walter "Edy" Tavarez was outstanding throughout the qualifiers, averaging 15.0 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game before this latest win against the Elephants. “It's a wonderful feeling. I don't know what to say, I'm very emotional. It's a dream come true for me. We had to win today. After yesterday's defeat, we still had this chance and we managed to take it,” the Cape Verde big man exclaimed after the game.

A historic appearance

His team-mate Betinho Gomes echoed those words. “It's great to have made history. We fought to get here. Despite yesterday's defeat, we kept believing in ourselves. We started tentatively, but we knew what we had to do to win this game. We aim to set an example for future generations of Cape Verdean players,” said the Cape Verde forward.

As well as writing a remarkable page in their history, Cape Verde will be the smallest nation to play at the FIBA World Cup, a status previously held by Montenegro since 2019.

🇨🇻🦈 HISTORIA DE CABO VERDE 🦈🇨🇻

Cape Verde etch their name into African basketball history by qualifying for their first-ever World Cup! ✍️#FIBAWC x #WinForCaboVerde pic.twitter.com/T9KJvWDlSX

— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) February 26, 2023