Cape Verde Stuns Spain With a Goalless Draw in World Cup Debut

Cape Verde produced one of the biggest shocks of the tournament on Monday in Atlanta, holding Spain, the defending European champion and one of the World Cup favorites, to a 0-0 draw in its first-ever World Cup match. The result gave the African side a point in the opening round and left Spain with only one point despite overwhelming pregame expectations.

The mismatch looked enormous on paper. Spain has about 48 million people, nearly 100 times Cape Verde’s population, making the island nation one of the smallest countries ever to reach a World Cup. The squad values also reflected the gap, with Spain’s roster valued by Transfermarkt at about 1.22 billion euros, compared with 54.5 million euros for Cape Verde.

Confidence in a Spanish win extended beyond the pitch. A post on social media said a $1 million bet had been placed on Spain at Polymarket, with a potential payout of $1,085,943.48. Instead, Cape Verde delivered a classic upset and showed once again why the World Cup keeps producing surprises.

The central figure was 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, who turned in a standout performance to preserve the clean sheet. His display also changed his profile off the field, as his Instagram following reportedly jumped from 53,000 before the match to 1.3 million afterward.