Spain opens World Cup against debutants Cape Verde, chasing a strong start after decades of opening-match struggles

The debut curse

Spain enters the World Cup as the second-ranked team in the FIFA standings, trailing only reigning champion Argentina, and as the holder of the European Championship won two years ago in Germany. Yet the opening match has rarely been kind to La Roja. Across 16 World Cup debut appearances, Spain has managed only five victories, alongside four draws and seven defeats. The last time Spain won a World Cup opener was in 2002 against Slovenia; the 2010 title run famously began with a loss to Switzerland.

Cape Verde steps into the unknown

Cape Verde is one of four teams making their World Cup debut in this expanded 48-team tournament, joining Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. Ranked 67th in the world, the island nation arrives with no baggage of past failures at this level, but also with almost no experience against elite competition. The squad features one familiar face for Spanish fans: Villarreal defender Logan Costa. The gulf in pedigree is vast on paper, yet Spain's football memory holds cautionary tales like the 1-1 draw with debutants Honduras in the 1982 opener on home soil.

A group built for progress

The match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta opens Group H, where Uruguay and Saudi Arabia will meet the following day. With 32 of the 48 participants advancing to the round of 32, the margin for error in the group stage is wider than in previous editions. Still, the tone set in the first 90 minutes matters. Forward Ferran Torres described the mindset: "In the first match you have to start strong, you have to start by imposing our style."

Voices from the camp

Midfielder Mikel Merino, one of 14 World Cup debutants in the Spanish squad after missing the Qatar tournament, urged perspective. "The important thing is to focus on ourselves, on what we have to do well. We have known each other for a long time, we have to face the match with seriousness and a good attitude. It is important to start on the right foot in a tournament like this, but it doesn't define the path," he said from the team's training camp at Kennesaw State University outside Atlanta.

Goalkeeper David Raya echoed the balance between a fast start and tournament patience. "A good start in any tournament, in a World Cup or a European Championship, is very important because it gives you the confidence to move forward, but I have always said it's not how you start but how you finish. Everyone remembers South Africa, but we are going to try to start as well as possible and, if not, the important thing is how it ends."

How to watch

The match kicks off on Monday, June 15, at 18:00 CET. In Spain, live television coverage will be available on La 1 and DAZN Mundial, with streaming through RTVE Play. Spanish viewers can also follow minute-by-minute updates on the ABC.es website.

Spain's pre-tournament friendlies delivered mixed results: a 1-1 draw against Iraq in A Coruña, followed by a 3-1 win over Peru that restored confidence before the flight to the United States. Manager Luis de la Fuente, who silenced doubts by guiding a squad short on household names to a perfect run at the European Championship, now carries a nation's expectation into a tournament where Spain has not reached the final since its triumph in South Africa.