Cape Verde cruised past Mozambique 3-0 to book a place in the knock-out stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Group B with a match to spare after recording two wins from two. Cape Verde, who before the tournament were far from favourites to progress from the group that has seven-times record AFCON winners Egypt and four-times winners Ghana, shocked Ghana in the opening match, beating them 2-1 to set the pace for what has to this point been a wonderful dream tournament in Ivory Coast. They built on that on Friday with a first-half goal from former Manchester United man Bebé, who struck a wonderfully taken free-kick 40 yards out in the 32nd minute to give the tiny nation the lead against the Black Mambas of Mozambique, who recorded a painful draw in their opener against Egypt, conceding in the last minute of added time to draw 1-1. Second-half goals from Ryan Mendes and Kevin Pina coming in the 51st and 69th minutes respectively were enough to give Cape Verde six points from six on their way to the knock-out stage of the competition, becoming the first country to book a place in that stage of the competition this year. They sit comfortably on top with six points and are set to finish that way with Egypt second with 2 points, Mozambique and Ghana on one point each. The results in the final group match won't have any effect on their standing as they now have to start preparing for the knock-out stage encounter with whoever opponent they will face, with their match against Egypt in the final group game just a formality. The battle now will be left for the other three sides to fight for the second-place finish in the group, with four teams expected to join the knock-out as third finishers based on who finishes third across all groups with better records at the end of all group games.