Spain arrived in Atlanta expecting to make a deep World Cup run, but faces a Monday opener against Cape Verde, whose players are embracing the excitement of representing their nation at the tournament for the first time.
The European champions open their Group H campaign against Cape Verde, with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia also in the section, in a fixture that looks on paper like a meeting of different football planets.
Luis de la Fuente's side have become close to immovable over the last four years, going 30 matches unbeaten since a 1-0 friendly loss to Colombia at Wembley in March 2024. Since then, Spain have recorded 23 wins and seven draws playing some of the most entertaining, attacking football seen in recent times.
The only wrinkle in that spotless-looking run was a 5-4 penalty defeat to Portugal in the 2025 Nations League final after a 2-2 draw, following extra time, in a match where Spain twice led but failed to retain the title they had won in 2023.
Cape Verde, however, are not merely in North America to provide the romance. The Blue Sharks were one of the surprise qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and, with fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, are the third-smallest country by population to reach the tournament after Iceland in 2018 and Curacao, also in 2026.
