Uruguay 2-2 Cape Verde: Pina's Free Kick Sparks Another Stunning Draw (World Cup 2026)
Kevin Pina's 32-metre free kick and a late Hélio Varela leveller earned Cape Verde a second straight draw, holding Uruguay 2-2 at World Cup 2026.
22 June 2026
Result
Cape Verde produced their second remarkable result of the tournament, fighting back to draw 2-2 with Uruguay in Miami. Kevin Pina gave the debutants an early lead in the 21st minute with a 32-metre free kick — Cape Verde's first ever World Cup goal — before Maxi Araújo and Agustín Canobbio scored either side of half-time to put two-time champions Uruguay 2-1 up. Substitute Hélio Varela levelled in the 61st minute to secure a second point from two games.
What it means for Last Man Standing pools
Uruguay were the heavy favourites here, the team most pool players will have backed without much thought, and instead they're now the side that's drawn back-to-back games and surrendered a lead to World Cup debutants. Cape Verde, by contrast, have built the platform of this group stage: two draws from two games against far more experienced opposition. Nobody is treating Cape Verde as a banker pick yet, but anyone who wrote them off as a one-game fluke after Spain has now seen the same trick twice.
Pre-match forecasts
Pre-match markets had Uruguay as clear favourites, with most forecasts pricing them around 68% to win, the draw near 23%, and Cape Verde at roughly 11% — reasonable given Uruguay's pedigree against a side playing its first ever World Cup. Cape Verde's opening 0-0 against Spain had suggested they wouldn't be brushed aside easily, but few expected them to lead inside the first half hour or come from behind a second time. The result defied that script almost entirely: the side given barely a one-in-ten shot finished with the same points as the favourites.
Standout stats
Kevin Pina's free kick travelled 32 metres, the longest-range goal of the tournament so far, and made Cape Verde the first nation on record since 1966 to score their first-ever World Cup goal direct from a free kick. Hélio Varela's equaliser arrived just over two minutes after he came off the bench — the fastest goal by an African substitute at a World Cup since Roger Milla's strike for Cameroon in 1994. Per Opta data, Uruguay managed 17 shots and 2.34 expected goals to Cape Verde's 12 attempts and 0.86, a gulf in chance quality that makes the result feel even more remarkable for the debutants.
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