{"id":41247,"date":"2026-06-16T05:35:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/41247\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T05:35:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:35:25","slug":"cape-verde-stuns-spain-in-world-cup-debut-nbc-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/41247\/","title":{"rendered":"Cape Verde stuns Spain in World Cup debut \u2013 NBC Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cape Verde stunned Spain in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcboston.com\/tag\/world-cup\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">World Cup<\/a> on Monday, earning a draw against a tournament favorite in the teams&#8217; opening match.<\/p>\n<p>Spain is ranked No. 2 in the world, while Cabo Verde is No. 67, and making its debut in the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Spain pressured Cape Verde all game \u2014 shot attempts were 27 to 6 in favor of the reigning European champions. But goalkeeper Vozinha stopped all seven shots that made it on goal.<\/p>\n<p>Much of Cape Verde&#8217;s U.S. population is located in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where there were ecstatic celebrations on Monday. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/USATSI_29201981_168413449_lowres.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   alt=\"Cape Verdeans cheer an unlikely tie between Cape Verde and Spain in the World Cup during a watch party held at Praia Vibes Bar &amp; Grill in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Monday, June 15, 2026.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Cape Verdeans cheer an unlikely tie between Cape Verde and Spain in the World Cup during a watch party held at Praia Vibes Bar &amp; Grill in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Monday, June 15, 2026.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcboston.com\/news\/local\/i-had-to-be-here-cape-verde-fans-celebrate-soccer-teams-u-s-arrival-in-boston\/3959142\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Cape Verdeans had gathered at Boston Logan International Airport<\/a> two weeks ago to welcome the Blue Sharks to the United States for the tournament. <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAs Cape Verde&#8217;s soccer team arrived in Boston for the World Cup, fans were at the airport to cheer their small island nation on.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The African island nation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcboston.com\/news\/local\/cape-verde-soccer-world-cup-2026\/3825903\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">topped its qualifying group to become<\/a> the second-smallest country, by population, to make it to a World Cup. Only Iceland, which played in the 2018 tournament, is smaller.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a significant moment for our country,&#8221; said Ed Lopes, who was at the airport. &#8220;Small country but in a big stage, so, wow, I had to be here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cape-verde-boston-airport.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   alt=\"A woman holds the Cape Verdean flag at Boston Logan International Airport on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, as the country's soccer team arrived in the U.S.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tNBC10 BostonNBC10 Boston<\/p>\n<p>A woman holds the Cape Verdean flag at Boston Logan International Airport on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, as the country&#8217;s soccer team arrived in the U.S. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Always I will be here to support my country,&#8221; said Vanilda Da Rosa. &#8220;And they deserve it, because they work hard. It is a blast to be in the World Cup for us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Tubar\u00f5es Azuis also marched in the Dorchester Day Parade.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cabo-verde-boston-airport.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"   alt=\"A Cape Verdean soccer team flag at Boston Logan International Airport on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, as the country's soccer team arrived in the U.S.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tNBC10 BostonNBC10 Boston<\/p>\n<p>A Cape Verdean soccer team flag at Boston Logan International Airport on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, as the country&#8217;s soccer team arrived in the U.S. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cape Verde stunned Spain in the World Cup on Monday, earning a draw against a tournament favorite in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5005,3376,19271,17,369],"class_list":["post-41247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-boston","tag-logan-international-airport","tag-spain","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41247","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=41247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}