2023 AFCON: Ryan Mendes Pushes Cape Verde To First AFCON Quarter-Finals

Cape Verde seems ready to go all the way in the 2023 AFCON, as they waited until the last five minutes of regulation time to knock out Mauritania from the tournament.

Cape Verde and Mauritania were arguably the lowest-ranked teams left in the tournament ahead of their round of 16 clash at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny earlier today, January 29.

The two teams played the entire first half of the encounter without scoring a goal, as they both played a very balanced match.

In the second half, the caging encounter continued until the last five minutes, when a Mauritanian defender committed a foul in the eighteen-yard box.

Ryan Mendes, who currently plays as a winger for a Turkish club, Karagümrük, stepped up and converted the spot-kick to make it 1-0 for the 73rd-ranked team in the world.

Ryan Mendes’ goal against Mauritania was his 17th international goal for the island country of West Africa and the 100th goal at the 2023 AFCON.

The lone goal has taken the island country, with a population of about 587,925 people per the 2021 research, to their first quarter-finals in the biggest football tournament in Africa.

The Cape Verdeans achieved this feat after featuring in four editions of the tournament – 2013, 2015, 2021, and 2023.

They will now face South Africa or Morocco in the quarter-finals at 9 p.m. on February 3, 2024.