The first “bomb” of the 2026 World Cup is a fact! Cape Verde, in its first participation in the final phase of the World Cup, held Spain (one of the favorites of the tournament) to a 0-0 draw at the “Mercedes-Benz Stadium” in Atlanta in the opening game of Group 8 and set the group on fire.

The Spaniards pressed from the start, consistently having over 70% possession, but they didn’t seem to have any ideas or ways to approach the opponent’s area. And whenever they did, they either missed (Ferran Torres’ crossbar in the 40th minute) or fell on the impressive Vozinha who had lowered his “rollers” (saved by Oyarzabal in the 40th minute, Torres in the 45th minute, Laporte in the 45th minute + 3′, Ruiz in the 56th minute and Merino in the 73rd minute).

De La Fuente gradually brought in the (not entirely ready) Lamine Yamal from the bench, but Spain remained trapped, unable to find a goal, and Cape Verde held strong until the end, taking the historic “X”.

Referee : Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
Yellow Cards : 90’+3′ Pedri – 16′ Lopes Cabral
Red Cards : –

The lineups of the teams:
SPAIN (Luis de la Fuente) : Unai Simón, Llorente, Laporte, Coobarsi, Cucurreja, Fabian Ruiz (71′ Merino), Gavi (71′ Yamal), Rodri (87′ Williams), Pedri, Ferran Torres (81′ Olmo), Oyarzabal.
CAPE GREEN (Pedro Leitão Brito) : Vozinha, Moreira, Borges, Lopes, Lopes Cabral (76′ Joao Paulo), Pina, Jovan Cabral (61 Semedo), Monteiro (79′ Arkanzo), Laros Duarte (61′ Deroy Duarte), Livramento (61′ Da Costa), Mendes.