Cape Verde stuns Spain with scoreless draw in World Cup debut

Historic debut

Cape Verde played their first ever World Cup match on Monday and held reigning European champions Spain to a 0–0 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The island nation declared a "tolerance of point" back home so that as many people as possible could watch, and President José Maria Neves travelled to the United States to attend in person.

There are moments in the life of a nation when an entire country redefines itself: this is one of those great moments.

He added that 50 years ago many doubted the country's future, and that now Cape Verde stands among the best.

Vozinha's heroics

Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, 40, produced a string of saves to keep the score level. Spain's first shot on target arrived only in the 15th minute through Pedri, and the veteran goalkeeper dealt with everything thrown at him. The only Cape Verde attempt on goal came in the 90th minute, and Spain keeper Unai Simón was equal to it.

Spain's attacking blank

Spain dominated possession but struggled to break down a well-organized Cape Verde defense. Coach Bubista had prepared his team knowing that without Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams as wide threats, Spain would attack through the middle. The four Cape Verde players with experience in Portugal's league (Vozinha, Sidny Lopes Cabral, Jovane Cabral and Dailon Livramento) executed the plan, blocking the central channels for most of the match. Neither side could find a breakthrough.

For now, just the fact that we qualified for the World Cup, we already won. It's historic. And whatever comes, we'll see. So if we win, it's even better. If we don't win, we already won.

What comes next

Cape Verde will face Uruguay in Miami on 21 June and Saudi Arabia in Houston on 26 June. Spain, whose pressure faded in the second half, needs to regroup before meeting the same opponents later in Group H.