FIFA World Cup 2026: From Cape Verde to New Zealand, football’s middle class has arrived and in style

“We have a lot of matches that are completely uninteresting.”

When UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin criticized the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams, his concerns were widely shared by the football world. More teams, it was thought, would mean more mismatches and more matches that would struggle to justify their places.

Five days and fourteen matches later, the 2026 World Cup has provided a compelling counterargument.

No team has embodied this better than Cape Verde.

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The island nation, which only made its Olympic debut in Atlanta 1996 and is participating in its first World Cup, held Spain to a goalless draw in the same city on Sunday. Spain had 74 percent possession, attempting 27 shots, eight of which were on target, but were unable to get past veteran goalkeeper Vozinha. His seven saves against the European champions made him one of the early heroes of the tournament. His followers on Instagram have exploded from about 56,000 to more than six million overnight.

After the final whistle, the emotion was unmistakable.

«I am very proud. For me it is an honor to represent my country,» said Vozinha, who plays in Portugal’s second division. «We do this with passion because we come from a small country. Our qualification was difficult. We knew that if we worked and followed the coach’s plan, we could compete against Spain, one of the best national teams. Today the dream came true.»

The tears had as much to do with personal struggles as they did with football.

«I cried because I grew up with my grandparents and they passed away a few years ago. They gave everything for my life. My mother couldn’t be here because we didn’t arrange the money for the visa in time. I would have liked her to be here.»

His story has become one of the defining images of the tournament’s opening week.

Among the tournament’s other debutants, Bosnia and Herzegovina marked its World Cup win with a point against Canada, while Curacao, despite a heavy defeat to Germany, celebrated its first World Cup goal as a milestone rather than a humiliation.

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Competitiveness extends beyond newcomers. New Zealand, ranked 64 places below Iran, matched its opponent goal for goal, while Qatar (world number 56) secured its first World Cup point with a draw against Switzerland (19).

The increasingly confident middle class in football has also left its mark. Morocco held Brazil. Belgium needed an own goal to salvage a draw against Egypt. Uruguay and the Netherlands were both denied victory by Saudi Arabia and Japan.

The numbers show how competitive the tournament has been so far. Eight of the first fourteen matches ended in a draw. Only Germany and Sweden won by more than two goals. Fears of a tournament swamped by one-sided scorelines have yet to materialize.

The expanded World Cup was expected to expose the divide between football’s elite and everyone else. But the opening week has highlighted a shift in the global game. The traditional powers still have more talent and a deeper roster, but the gap among them is rapidly closing. Better coaching, improved player pathways and greater access to top-flight football have created teams that are tactically organised, physically prepared and increasingly comfortable against big-name opponents.

Spanish national coach Luis de la Fuente experienced that reality firsthand. «They are very well organised; they were deep as one and it was very difficult to create space,» he said after the draw with Cape Verde. «In this World Cup there is extreme equality and difficulty. This team was clearly inferior to us, but they did the things they had to do well.»

This could well become the defining theme of the expanded World Cup.

On Sunday, 13 football associations, including debutants Cape Verde, Curaçao and Uzbekistan, issued a joint response to Ceferin’s criticism. “For our countries, there is no such thing as an unimportant World Cup match,” the statement said. “To suggest that these matches are somehow less important is deeply disappointing and ignores the efforts, sacrifices and ambitions of players, coaches, clubs, football leaders and supporters around the world.”

The first week of the tournament has given their argument significant weight.

For countries that have spent years trying to reach this stage, there is no such thing as an insignificant World Cup match. Five days after the tournament, they made sure Ceferin and the rest of the world were paying attention too.

Published on June 16, 2026