Spain vs. Cape Verde opened their World Cup Group H schedule with a match played in Atlanta at the 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The same group also includes Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, teams that will meet tonight, from 01:00, in the other match of the inaugural round.
Spain messed with Cape Verde
Spain controlled the game from the opening minutes and had most of the possession, but ran into a well-organised Cape Verdean defense and the excellent form of goalkeeper Vozinha. The first major chance came in the 16th minute when Pedri shot from distance, but without problems for the goalkeeper. Cape Verde responded with a few timid attempts, but without seriously testing Unai Simon.
The best scoring chance of the half was consumed in the 39th minute. Ferran Torres sent a header across the crossbar, and in the next phase Vozinha had a spectacular intervention on Oyarzabal’s header, keeping the score level.
At the end of the half, Spain forced the opening score. In the 45th minute, Ferran Torres missed another important opportunity, and in the 45th+2nd minute Vozinha made another save from Laporte’s header. Thus, at half-time the score remained surprisingly 0-0, although Spain clearly dominated the game and created their biggest chances, while goalkeeper Vozinha was the man of the first half.
In the end, Cape Verde’s defense resisted heroically
Spain also controlled the second half, but continued to suffer in terms of efficiency. Fabian Ruiz (min. 51 and 57) and Oyarzabal (min. 53) tried to create danger, but to no avail.
In the 71st minute, Lamine Yamal and Mikel Merino entered, in an attempt to revitalize the offensive game of the Iberians. Merino had a good chance in the 73rd minute and Cucurella missed an important chance in the 82nd minute when he headed straight at Vozinha.
Joao Paulo blocked Yamal in the 85th minute and Oyarzabal was stopped at the last minute in the 88th minute. The Africans came close to striking on the counter-attack in the 90th minute, but Unai Simon made a sure save. In the end, Spain did not find the winning goal and Cape Verde got a surprise result after an excellent defensive performance.
