Cape Verde resists finalist Spain and holds goalless draw
Cape Verde was the only team to face Spain in the World Cup without losing, holding a goalless draw in their opening match. Veteran goalkeeper Vozinha, 40, made seven saves to prevent defeat.
Why it matters for Cape Verde
This win is a great story for the Cape Verde national team, which made its World Cup debut. The team was eliminated in the Round of 32, but impressed as one of the tournament's big stories.
What's next
Spain is in the World Cup final, while Cape Verde was eliminated in the Round of 32. Goalkeeper Vozinha, who turned 40 12 days before the match, is a hero for the Cape Verde national team.
Cape Verde was the only team to face Spain in the World Cup without losing, holding a goalless draw in their opening match. Veteran goalkeeper Vozinha, 40, made seven saves to prevent defeat. Spain, which went on to win all six of its subsequent matches, including the semifinal against France, is in the World Cup final.
Spain is in the World Cup final after beating France 2-0 and completing a six-match winning streak. Austria, Portugal, Belgium, and France itself fell in the knockout stage. Before them, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay were also defeated in the group stage.
There was only one team that faced the Spanish and left the field without losing: the surprising Cape Verde. The match took place in the opening match, in Atlanta. Against a team that was making its first-ever World Cup appearance, the European champion had 27 shots, seven of them on goal, but failed to score.
All successful attempts ended in Vozinha, who had turned 40 12 days before the match and turned Spanish pressure into a collection of saves. That was the only time Spain failed to score. After the draw, Luis de la Fuente's team scored 13 goals, won six consecutive matches, and suffered only once, in the 2-1 win over Belgium in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal, they controlled France, won 2-0, and secured their second World Cup final in history, 16 years after winning the title in South Africa. The result that initially seemed like a Spanish slip-up took on another dimension throughout the competition. Cape Verde advanced in its World Cup debut and was eliminated in the Round of 32, after a tough match against Argentina and a 3-2 loss.
The campaign transformed the team of a country of over 500,000 people into one of the tournament's big stories. While Spain prepares to compete for the title on Sunday, Vozinha preserves a mark that no power has been able to repeat. Neither Portugal, nor Belgium, nor France's Mbappé found a way to avoid defeat. It was the veteran goalkeeper of Cape Verde, on the first night of his country in a World Cup, who managed to prevent the finalists from winning and even scoring a goal.
Spain's campaign
- Spain 0 x 0 Cape Verde - group stage
- Spain 4 x 0 Saudi Arabia - group stage
- Uruguay 0 x 1 Spain - group stage
- Spain 3 x 0 Austria - Round of 32
- Portugal 0 x 1 Spain - quarterfinals
- Spain 2 x 1 Belgium - semifinals
- France 0 x 2 Spain - final
