Cape Verde STUN Spain, Earn Scoreless “Win”
- Ronan Briscoe
- Jun 17
- 3 min read
Credit AP/Erik S. Lesser
NATIONAL SOCCER NEWS: www.nationalsoccernetwork.com
June 15th, 2026, kicking off at 10AM Eastern Standard Time in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Write it down, because it was the date, time and site of one of the most unlikely results in the 96-year history of the FIFA World Cup.
Against all odds, tiny Cape Verde, ranked 67th in FIFA's world rankings, managed to hold second-ranked Spain, who is among the favorites to lift the World Cup, to a 0-0 draw.
Inspired by the performance of a lifetime from 40-year old goalkeeper Vozinha, the island nation collected their very first point in their very first World Cup game. Vozinha, who in club football splits starting duties for second-division Portuguese side GD Chaves, made an unreal seven saves, and prevented all of the 1.45 xG that the Spanish players put onto his goal.
Spain managed a whopping 74% of the ball, and outshot Cape Verde 27-6. Spain completed 734 passes to Cape Verde's 205. It just defies all belief that the Cape Verdeans were able to hang on.
Approximately 530,000 people call the archipelago off the east coast of Africa home. None of them will ever forget where they were.
This result was so unlikely that Spain didn't even bother to feature 18-year old Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal in the starting lineup. He made his entrance to the game in the second half, but was unable to alter the scoresheet.
A country that has only qualified for four African Cup of Nations tournaments, and just this lone foray into an expanded FIFA World Cup, has stepped up against one of the best and deepest teams in the world, and earned themselves a point.
It was a beautiful moment on Sunday when Curaçao managed to equalize against Germany, even if we all more or less knew it would be short lived. No one can take away that goal, but inside the context, it did come as a moral victory in a 7-1 spanking. This result will live forever, not only in the minds of Cape Verdeans, but fans of the sport the world round.
This result joins North Korea's defeat of Italy in 1966, the USA's defeat of England in 1950, and Saudi Arabia's defeat of eventual champions Argentina in 2022 among the most unlikely results in the history of this competition.
For Spain, it is yet another slow start to a World Cup. The Spanish have won just three games at World Cups since lifting the trophy on that night in Johannesburg in 2010. Those games came against Australia in 2014, Iran in 2018, and a 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica in 2022. It could have been an even bigger warning alarm for the Spanish, were it not for a draw in Miami between Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
For Spain, their next game is on Sunday, June 21st, right back in Atlanta against Saudi Arabia, that one kicking off at noon Eastern. For Cape Verde, they look to continue their stateside journey against another team with stars above its crest, they face Uruguay also on June 21st, that one kicking off at 6PM Eastern in Miami.
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