Spain arrives in Atlanta with the image of a team anticipating a long World Cup summer, but on Monday the country will face an opponent with an equally powerful emotion: the euphoric disbelief of a country, Cape Verde, seeing its name on the tournament board for the first time.
But Cape Verde is more than just a romantic location in North America.
With fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, the Blue Sharks are the third smallest country by population to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, after Iceland in 2018 and Curaçao in 2026. They were one of the unexpected qualifiers.
Head-to-head Spain vs. Cape Verde:
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Total number of matches: 0
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Belgium: 0
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Egypt: 0
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Draws: 0
Form guide Spain vs Cape Verde:
Spain: WDDWD
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Peru 1-3 Spain
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Spain 1-1 Iraq
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Spain 0-0 Egypt
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Spain 3-0 Serbia
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Spain 2-2 Turkey
Cape Verde: WDLDD
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Cape Verde 3-0 Serbia
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Cape Verde 1-1 Finland
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Chile 4-2 Cape Verde
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Egypt 1-1 Cape Verde
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Iran 0-0 Cape Verde
Spain vs Cape Verde Predicted XI:
Spain (4-3-3): Simón – Llorente, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella – Fabián, Rodri, Pedri – Torres, Oyarzabal, Baena
Cape Verde (4-2-3-1): Stem — Moreira, Costa, Pico, Paulo — Semedo, Pina — Mendes, Monteiro, Cabral — Dailon
Published on June 15, 2026
