Cape Verde Islands 0-0 DR Congo

Both sides now have two points behind group leaders Tunisia

Cape Verde and DR Congo played out a lacklustre goalless draw that leaves both sides needing to win their final Group B games to be sure to progress.

DR Congo, who struggled to create chances, lost captain Youssouf Mulumbu, the West Brom midfielder, to a possible hamstring injury in the first half.

Calu wasted a clear first-half chance, heading at DR Congo's Robert Kidiaba.

Cape Verde had several late chances but Kidiaba blocked superbly from Varela, Gege and then substitute Heldon.

Both sides now have two points, two behind group leaders Tunisia, who came from behind to beat a wasteful Zambia in the earlier game in Ebebiyin.

Cape Verde, whose population of 500,000 makes them the smallest country to contest a Nations Cup, will rue a combination of missed chances and the efforts of Kidiaba, who at 38 is the oldest player in the tournament.

DR Congo, who were playing against a backdrop of political tensions back home, ended the game without their two Premier League players.

Mulumbu left on a stretcher after failing to play on following a tackle, while Yannick Bolasie was replaced in the second half after a quiet game.

Cape Verde (pop: 500,000) are higher in Fifa's rankings than DR Congo (pop: 70m)

After struggling to entertain, the match burst into life in the final 10 minutes as Cape Verde spurned three glorious openings.

Yet they could not find a way past the pony-tailed Kidiaba, who had offered up a prayer before taking to the field for the second half.

Seven minutes from time, he made a double-save to deny Varela and Gege, whose effort was still trickling towards goal before being hacked away by a defender.

Forced to start on the bench because of toothache, substitute Heldon had another chance moments later only for Kidiaba to charge out of goal to impressively narrow the angle.

On Monday Cape Verde, who lost captain Babanco to injury late on, take on 2012 champions Zambia, who prop up the group, while DR Congo, with just two wins in 19 Nations Cup matches, meet Tunisia in Bata.

Injured DR Congo captain Youssouf Mulumbu told BBC Sport:

"I think it's a bad injury. It really hurt. I tried to stay on the pitch but I didn't want to take the risk. I can't say anything until my exam on Friday with the doctor and physio. We will go to the hospital to see what I've got.

"We were a little bit sad today. We didn't show the real face of Congo. Against Zambia we showed that we enjoyed playing football. We gave too much respect to Cape Verde.

"We need to play with more confidence. We need to put our striker in a good position to score goals."

DR Congo coach Florent Ibenge:

"We battled to handle the pace of the Cape Verdean attackers but we were unable to get the ball up to our strikers."

DR Congo keeper Robert Kidiaba turns 39 next month

Neither DR Congo coach Florent Ibenge nor Cape Verde's Rui Aguas will be thrilled with the point

DR Congo fans arrived in time for the earlier game between Zambia and Tunisia at the same ground