Cape Verde, the tiny Atlantic archipelago, achieved the unthinkable: they qualified for the last 32 of the World Cup, knocking out Uruguay in the process. Their reward? A date with world champions Argentina in Miami on Friday.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino may well have been thinking 'I told you so' as Cape Verde became one of the beneficiaries of expanding the tournament to 48 teams. But away from the good news stories, there was no real jeopardy for the major nations.
“Cape Verde qualified for the last 32 by knocking out Uruguay, highlighting the new format's lack of jeopardy for major nations.”
That was partly caused by the need to send third-placed teams through and Fifa's decision to use head-to-head as the first group-stage tiebreaker. It meant four teams won their groups with a game to spare, and five were eliminated.
Still, there could be no greater vindication of Infantino's plan. Cape Verde were the poster boys. Written off by many before they got on the plane, they emerged from a group containing Uruguay and European champions Spain. They took a point off Spain, keeping a clean sheet, then drew 2-2 with Uruguay. A draw against Saudi Arabia in the final group game secured second place in the group on just three points.
Vozinha, their 40-year-old goalkeeper, became a social media star thanks to his heroics against Spain. Starting the game with 50,000 followers on Instagram, that shot up to five million after full-time. At the latest count, he has 16.7m. His mother, who had been unable to attend the World Cup because of the high cost of obtaining a US visa, was able to fly in for the Uruguay game.
It is a story which only the World Cup can create for a player like Vozinha, who has spent his career in Moldova, Cyprus, and Slovakia.
Yet the tournament has also seen more goals than any since Sweden 1958, and Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane are trading blows in an electric race for the Golden Boot. That in itself was a gift for Fifa, with the world's most recognisable players all showing up.
But the World Cup is not just about the star names, certainly at the group stage. The colour and character of football from around the globe takes the focus. We did not get any shock defeats in meaningful games for the big teams, like Saudi Arabia beating eventual champions Argentina four years ago.
Can Fifa claim the new format has been a success? Let us know your thoughts.