Walter Tavares, center of Real Madrid, propelled Cape Verde to the Basketball World Cup that will be held this year in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, where it will become the selection of the country with the least population in the history of the tournament.
The Cape Verdean team defeated the Ivory Coast 79-64 in Luanda (Angola) and gained access to the final phase by being the best third of the two qualifying groups, with one point more than Senegal.
Cape Verde surpasses the record for the smallest country in a World Cup held by Montenegro since the final phase of China 2019. With 571,966 inhabitants, it exceeds the 620,000 that the European country had three years ago.
Tavares scored thirteen points with a series of 5 of 6 attempts on 2-point shots and a full three free throws, as well as grabbing five rebounds in 30:35 minutes. Next to him, the Benfiquistas Ivan Almeida (20 goals) and Betinho Gomes (15) were key.
Tavares has had an average of 15 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in the qualifying phase. Along with Cape Verde, the qualified teams from the African continent are Angola, Ivory Coast, Egypt and South Sudan.
