The first major shock of the 2026 World Cup occurred in Atlanta yesterday, as reigning European champions Spain were held to a goalless draw with Cape Verde, ranked 67th in the FIFA rankings. Spain were inept in attack, and were often caught out by Cape Verde’s reluctance to press the ball, meaning Spain stayed largely in the centre of the pitch, relying mainly on long balls into the box to provide an attacking threat. Shamrock Rovers centre-back Roberto Lopes put in a fantastic display, making 16 defensive contributions and 11 clearances, but the star of the show was 40 year old goalkeeper Vozinha, who proved that age is simply just a number, making seven crucial saves to deny the Spanish from breaking the hearts of a nation with a population of roughly 491,000 people. Speaking after the game, the goalkeeper was in tears due to his mother not being able to attend the match due to the cost of obtaining a visa to the United States, wishing that he would like for her to attend his country’s second game against Uruguay this Sunday in Miami. There will be significant concern for Luis de la Fuente’s side, who showed the world yesterday that without key attacking cogs like Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams that they are rather tame going forward. Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal didn’t touch the ball for the opening 30 minutes, and despite the fact he had a better second half, de la Fuente will be searching for a solution before Spain play Saudi Arabia, also this Sunday in Atlanta.
Elsewhere yesterday, Egypt were held to a 1-1 draw with Belgium after Mohamed Hary’s own goal stopped them from securing a famous victory at the World Cup, Uruguay had to find a late equaliser against Saudi Arabia via Maxi Araujo, and in one of the games of the tournament so far, Iran came from behind twice to snatch a point against the lowest ranked side in the tournament, New Zealand. Tonight, 2018 winners and 2022 runners-up France will play Senegal, as Didier Deschamps looks to end his reign as manager of France with another World Cup. They beat Northern Ireland 3-1 last Monday night in their final warm-up game, and it will be interesting to see how Deschamps utilises Michael Olise, who scored a hat-trick in that fixture. Manchester City’s striking Viking, Erling Haaland, plays in his first World Cup match as his Norway side play Iraq, and at 2am Irish time, Lionel Messi and Argentina begin the defence of the World Cup against Algeria in what will surely be Messi’s final major tournament appearance. The news from the Argentina camp is that he’s fit to start for Lionel Scaloni’s team. The final game of the day is in California, as Austria play Jordan, as former Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick takes charge of Austria for the first time in a major tournament.
Luke Watson will be keeping us up to date on World Cup 2026
