Cape Verde frustrate Spain to earn first-ever World Cup point
Cape Verde earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Spain in their first-ever World Cup match on Monday at the Atlanta Stadium.
The European champions endured a disappointing start to the tournament as Cape Verde earned a priceless point with a battling display.
Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams were left on the bench as the likes of Ferran Torres, Mikel Oyazarbal and Gavi started in the attack.
However, the trio struggled to breakdown the Cape Verde team, who defended doggedly and goalkeeper Vozinha produced an impressive performance with seven saves.
He made two saves to deny Torres and Laporte.
Torres missed the best chance of the first half when his effort from close range hit the cross bar .
Lamine Yamal came off the bench in the second half but he was unable to help Spain break the deadlock in the encounter as Cape Verde held on to snatch a point.
Spain recorded 27 shots in all, but only seven were on target to cap off a frustrating night.
Read Also: Tunisia fire head coach Sabri Lamouchi after Sweden thrashing
Cape Verde are the third-smallest country in terms of population to qualify for a World Cup and they are ranked 67th in the FIFA rankings.
Spain will be hoping to earn their first win of the tournament against Saudi Arabia on Sunday while Cape Verde take on Uruguay on the same day.
Top Stats Match From Spain vs Cape Verde
Spain had 27 shots in this match without finding the net, their joint most on record since 1966 in a World Cup match without scoring, along with their 27 attempts against Paraguay in 1998, also a 0-0 draw.
Forty-year-old Vozinha made seven saves for Cape Verde in this match – since 1966, the only goalkeeper aged 40+ to make more saves in a World Cup game was Pat Jennings on his 41st birthday for Northern Ireland against Brazil in 1986.
Despite only coming on in the 71st minute, Lamine Yamal made more dribbles (5) than any other player in the 0-0 draw between Spain and Cabo Verde.
Cabo Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha is the oldest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet on his FIFA World Cup debut, making seven saves against Spain.
No goalkeeper has made more saves from inside the box AND kept a clean sheet in a World Cup game since 2018 than Vozinha (6).
Despite Spain having 74% possession, Cabo Verde conceded just one foul in this match – the fewest by any team in a FIFA World Cup match on record since 1966.
49 – Since scoring their last FIFA World Cup goal against Japan in 2022, Spain have had 49 shots and completed 2,500 passes in the competition without finding the net.
Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal is the first player on record since 1966 to play the first 30 minutes of a FIFA World Cup match without touching the ball once.
Gavi is just the sixth player to make an appearance at two different FIFA World Cup tournaments by the age of 21, after Pelé, Norman Whiteside, Rigobert Song, Salomon Olembe and Samuel Eto’o.
Spain have now FAILED to win their opening World Cup game in four of their last five tournaments:
❌ 2010: 0-1 vs Switzerland
❌ 2014: 1-5 vs Netherlands
🤝 2018: 3-3 vs Portugal
✅ 2022: 7-0 vs Costa Rica
🤝 2026: 0-0 vs Cape Verde
