A country of roughly 500,000 people is about to play the defending World Cup champions. Cape Verde, the tiny island nation off Africa’s west coast, secured a spot in the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after finishing the group stage unbeaten. Now comes the hard part: Argentina, July 3, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.

The Blue Sharks clinched their historic berth with a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on June 26-27, finishing second in Group H behind Spain. That makes Cape Verde the smallest nation ever to advance to the knockout stage of a World Cup. And crypto markets are paying very close attention.

Kraken, Polymarket, and the crypto layer on top of the World Cup

FIFA announced Kraken as the Official Crypto…