Group HFull time
Final · Jun 15
The market saw itImplied · model line
The stakes
Full time: Spain 0-0 Cape Verde — a Group H result now baked into the table.
- storylineCape Verde — the half-million-person miracleHeld Spain to a stunning 0-0 (June 15). Spain had ~27 shots; 40-year-old keeper Vozinha and a wall of bodies kept the clean sheet. Cape Verde became just the 7th team ever to avoid defeat on its World Cup debut. Coach: 'It means everything for our country.'
- storylineSpain — the champions who can't break a wallStumbled out of the gate: 0-0 vs debutants Cape Verde (June 15), 27 shots and nothing to show. Yamal, just back from a hamstring injury, started on the bench. All four Group H teams are level on 1 point — the tightest group in the tournament.
The two sides
SpainFavorites who stumbled out the gate
Reigning European champions and a genuine title favorite, with 18-year-old Lamine Yamal in the #10 and Rodri back from injury holding it together — the redemption arc is loaded and inevitable.
Cape VerdeTiny island nation on its first World Cup
Five hundred thousand people, a first-ever World Cup, a 40-year-old second-division keeper crying at full time — and they held mighty Spain to 0-0. This is the exact fairytale the World Cup exists to produce.
Who plays where
Spain
- Barcelona ×5Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Gavi, Nico Williams
- ArsenalMikel Merino
- Athletic BilbaoUnai Simón
- Atlético MadridRobin Le Normand
- Manchester CityRodri
- Real MadridDani Carvajal
Cape Verde
- ChavesVozinha (Josimar Évora Dias)
- Estrela AmadoraJovane Cabral
- Iğdır FKRyan Mendes
- VillarrealLogan Costa