It was only about a minute. But it probably felt like the longest minute of their lives.The excruciating void came between the full-time whistle in Houston, where Cape Verde had drawn 0-0 with Saudi Arabia, and confirmation from nearly 1,000 miles away in Guadalajara that the point was enough.The players didn’t quite know what to do with themselves. They shook hands with the Saudis, wandered around the pitch, then most of the squad gathered around someone’s phone to watch the closing stages of Spain vs Uruguay. Cape Verde needed Uruguay to lose to seal second place in Group H and automatic qualification for the World Cup’s round of 32.Cheers had gone up earlier in the evening when the big screen relayed that Spain had taken the lead. But they couldn’t be entirely sure that was still the case.Then it came. Game over in Mexico. Spain 1-0 Uruguay. Cape Verde, the third-smallest nation to reach the World Cup finals, became the smallest to ever reach its knockout phase.Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app“I almost wanted to cry,” midfielder Deroy Duarte told reporters after the game, reflecting on that vast chasm of time when Cape Verde were Schrodinger’s knockout team.“Everyone was just waiting and praying,” he added. “We deserved it so much, because we gave everything. There was so much tension. The joy that came out is something I never felt before, and I hope to feel it again.”Celebrations followed on the pitch and beyond.Head coach Bubista waved a huge Cape Verde flag. Winger Garry Rodrigues put on a blue shark (the team’s nickname) mask. This being Texas, black Stetsons appeared from somewhere. The players danced through the post-match interview area, carting the same wall-shaking speaker they partied with after securing qualification back home in Praia last year.Pico Lopes’ revels were curtailed slightly by being selected for the post-game doping tests, but the Dublin-born defender still found time to answer a videocall from his Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley — who was live on Irish TV at the time.