Cape Verde has just shocked the soccer world.
In their first-ever World Cup match, the tiny island nation earned a hard-fought draw against Spain, the European champions who are one of the favorites to win the World Cup next month. After 90 grueling minutes of defending in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the 0-0 scoreline will count as a massive win for the debutants.
The Spanish were heavily favored in the match and expected to waltz against a small nation debuting in the world’s biggest sporting event, hoping to mimic Germany’s 7-1 win against Curaçao a day earlier. Instead, they ran into a rock-solid Cape Verde defense.
Spain dipped into its talented-but-recovering-from-injury bench, playing stars Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams in the final minutes to try and break through the determined Cape Verde defenders. They had no luck.
In the final minutes of the game, the match turned into a back-and-forth affair as Spain threw everything forward to end the scoreless draw. That allowed Cape Verde to have a few opportunities going forward, including a corner kick that left an unmarked Cape Verdean central defender, Diney Borges, with an open header that was sent directly at Spanish keeper Unaí Simón
The match set the No. 2 team in the world against the No. 67 team, one of the biggest gaps in World Cup history. Matches such as this one were criticized ahead of the tournament, as commentators expected the expanded 48-team field to produce lopsided scores in lopsided matches with Cinderellas running into heavyweights such as Spain.
That criticism will surely quiet down now.
Players from Cape Verde who may not be well-known are now going to go down as legends for the squad from the island nation off Africa’s western coast. Goalkeeper Vozinha, who made seven saves, will be remembered in particular for an incredible performance that earned his country a first World Cup point.
It’s not exactly the end of Spain’s World Cup dream and the Spanish should take comfort from Argentina’s experience in 2022. In that tournament in Qatar, Lionel Messi’s side was shocked by a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in its opening game of that tournament.
The Argentinians, of course, went on to win the 2022 World Cup in one of the most thrilling finals in tournament history.
The Spanish domination of the game was complete – on paper.
Spain held the ball for 74% of the game, had six more shots on goal, completed 734 passes compared to Cape Verde’s 205 and had 2.29 expected goals.
But, as the Spanish found out in excruciating fashion, expected goals don’t count.
Attack after attack crested and broke like waves on a Cape Verdean beach, the best coming near the end of the first half.
Rodri played a floating ball across the box that found the head of Marc Cucurella, who nodded it back in front of the net into the path of Ferran Torres. With Vozinha sprawling, Torres leapt toward the ball and got his foot on it, sending it flying off the crossbar and back into the Cape Verde box.
Mikel Oyarzabal headed the ball toward the net and Vozinha, who had only just got back to his feet, jumped backward and threw a hand up. He got a touch on the ball, sending it over the net and out for a corner kick.
The thrill of surviving one of the world’s top teams was nearly overwhelming for the Cape Verde fans in Atlanta’s massive stadium.
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