{"id":40372,"date":"2026-06-14T23:49:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/40372\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T23:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T23:49:15","slug":"what-to-know-spain-vs-cabo-verde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/40372\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know: Spain vs. Cabo Verde"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) \u2014 The first World Cup match ever played in Atlanta is set to be between two national teams that could not be more different: a Group H clash between Spain and Cape Verde. <\/p>\n

Spain, the 2010 champions, are among the favorites to lift the trophy again this summer, while Cape Verde are making their first-ever appearance on soccer\u2019s biggest stage. <\/p>\n

How did they get here?Spain\"FILEFILE – Spain’s Lamine Yamal, right, scores his side third goal during the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal second leg match between the Netherlands and Spain at Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, March 23, 2025. (AP Photo\/Alberto Saiz, File)(Alberto Saiz | AP)<\/p>\n

Spain cruised to qualification in UEFA Group H, easily topping a group that included Bulgaria, Georgia and fellow World Cup participants Turkey. <\/p>\n

The Red One won all but one of their six qualification matches and only gave up two goals in the group; both were in their final match against Turkey, well after qualification was assured. <\/p>\n

Cape Verde\"FILEFILE – Cape Verde’s Dailon Livramento celebrates after scoring a goal against Chile during their international soccer friendly in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, March 27, 2026. (Shane Wenzlick\/photosport via AP, File)(Shane Wenzlick | AP)<\/p>\n

The smallest nation by land area to ever qualify for a World Cup had an equally easy time against much more varied competition. The Blue Sharks also topped their group in African qualifying, beating continental giants Cameroon. <\/p>\n

The group also contained Angola, Eswatini, Libya and Mauritius. <\/p>\n

How good are these teams?Spain\"SpainSpain midfielder Mikel Merino walks off the plane with teammates after arriving for the World Cup soccer tournament Friday, June 5, 2026, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo\/George Walker IV)(George Walker IV | AP Photo\/George Walker IV)<\/p>\n

Spain is currently the No. 2 team in the FIFA rankings, behind only Argentina. <\/p>\n

Spain is 2-0-3 in their last five, including a 3-1 win over Peru June 8. The Spaniards also beat Croatia 3-0 and tied Egypt 0-0 and Iraq 1-1 in friendlies. <\/p>\n

Cape Verde\"CapeCape Verde’s Steven Moreira, right, compete for the ball with Chile’s Gabriel Suazo during their international soccer friendly in Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, March 27, 2026. (Shane Wenzlick\/photosport via AP)(Shane Wenzlick | AP)<\/p>\n

Cape Verde is No. 67, the 13th-best team in Africa and the fifth-lowest rated team in the World Cup. <\/p>\n

Cape Verde has gone 2-1-2 in their last five matches and winners of their last two; the team beat Serbia on May 31 and Bermuda on June 6, both by a 3-0 score. They lost to Chile 4-2 March 27 and tied Finland 1-1 March 30 before losing on penalties. They also tied Egypt 1-1 in November before losing on penalties. <\/p>\n

Who\u2019s the likely starting XI?Spain (4-2-3-1)\"SpainSpain goalkeeper Unai Simon reacts to fans during a training session, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Chattanooga, Tenn., ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart)(Mike Stewart | AP Photo\/Mike Stewart)Goalkeeper Unai Sim\u00f3n (Athletic Bilbao)Defender Marc Cucurella (Chelsea)Defender Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao)Defender Pau Cubars\u00ed (Barcelona)Defender Pedro Porro (Tottenham Hotspur)Midfielder Pedri (Barcelona)Midfielder Rodri (Manchester City)Midfielder Fabi\u00e1n Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain)Forward Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao)Forward Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)Forward Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad)Cape Verde (4-3-3)\"FILEFILE – Cape Verde players pose for a team photo before the African Cup of Nations quarter final soccer match between Cape Verde and South Africa, at the Charles Konan Banny stadium in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024. (AP Photo\/Themba Hadebe, File)(Themba Hadebe | AP Photo\/Themba Hadebe)Goalkeeper Vozinha (Chaves)Defender Steven Moreira (Columbus Crew)Defender Sidny Lopes Cabral (Benfica)Defender Logan Costa (Villarreal)Defender Roberto Lopes (Shamrock Rovers)Midfielder Kevin Pina (Krasnodar)Midfielder Jamiro Monteiro (PEC Zwolle)Midfielder Deroy Duarte (Ludogorets Razgrad)Forward Ryan Mendes (I\u011fd\u0131r F.K.)Forward Dailon Livramento (Casa Pia)Forward\/Midfielder Jovane Cabral (Estrela da Amadora)<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) \u2014 The first World Cup match ever played in Atlanta is set to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6595,5005,18988,18987,18986,18969,18985,18983,3358,6522,18975,18974,18990,18978,18979,18984,17,18971,18970,18982,18977,14787,12071,18980,18989,18972,369,18976,18973,18981,18991],"class_list":["post-40372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-2026-fifa-world-cup","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-anf","tag-atlanta-news","tag-atlanta-news-first","tag-atlanta-world-cup-matches","tag-cabo-verde-starting-xi","tag-cape-verde-starting-xi","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-fifa-world-cup-group-h","tag-fifa-world-cup-matches","tag-how-old-is-lamine-yamal","tag-is-cabo-verde-a-real-country","tag-is-cape-verde-a-real-place","tag-mls-players-in-the-world-cup","tag-spain","tag-spain-cabo-verde","tag-spain-cape-verde","tag-spain-starting-xi","tag-spain-vs-cabo-verde","tag-spain-vs-cape-verde","tag-spain-world-cup","tag-spain-world-cup-roster","tag-wanf","tag-where-is-cabo-verde","tag-world-cup","tag-world-cup-group-h","tag-world-cup-groups","tag-world-cup-rosters","tag-youngest-players-at-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}