The mystery of Cape Verde

It's not how a poor little nation of 530,000 from volcanic islands in the Atlantic managed to get into the World Cup.

It's not that they put on excellent performances against Spain (0-0) and Uruguay (2-2).

It's the colours. The name of the country means Green Cape but they play in red, or white, or blue: not green. Their supporters wear blue, not green. The team is called the Blue Sharks (Tubarões Azuis).

That’s not all. There's more.

The islands aren't green and they're not a cape. The Portuguese named it after Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of the land that's now Senegal.

If only the World Cup included another couple of misleading islands, it could feature:

Cape Verde: neither green nor a cape.

Iceland: greener than many visitors expect.

Greenland: famously less green than its name suggests.

Is it only language nuts that find such things interesting?