Cape Verde shocks European champions, Saudi no gree for Uruguay

40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vorzinha stops another effort from Spain as the World Cup debutants held the European champions to a goall...

40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vorzinha stops another effort from Spain as the World Cup debutants held the European champions to a goalless draw in their Group H encounter on Monday. (Photo credit: GOAL)

Cape Verde, a first-timer at the FIFA World Cup and the smallest nation by landmass in the competition, held the world's number one team, Spain, to a goalless draw in their Group H opener on Monday.

We've heard about restrictions regarding Thomas Partey, who was refused entry into Canada due to his ongoing court case, as well as the situation involving the Somali referee who was denied an entry visa into the USA; now we're seeing shocking results from Mexico to the USA and Canada.

It could have been different for the European champions against the African minnows, but not for the 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, who made seven saves to deny the likes of Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal, and Marc Cucurella.

With Lamine Yamal fit but not ready to start, coach Luis De La Fuente left the Barcelona star on the bench for 70 minutes before introducing him. Lamine Yamal reignited the Barcelona attack, completing five dribbles and setting up Olmo for what should have been a goal.

Spain won't panic just yet. De La Fuente was quick to say it's a long journey, and the opening game won't stop them from achieving their long-term goal. Cape Verde and every single player on the pitch will take the applause for their heroics; now the entire world knows about them.

Now, it's worth remembering that, for all their talent over the years, Spain has often underwhelmed in their debut games at these tournaments. They lost their opening match in 2010 to Switzerland and went on to win the competition.

They failed to win their opening games in 2014 and 2018, too, before a 7-0 debut victory against Costa Rica in 2022 that proved a false dawn. Only three times in 14 World Cup appearances before 2022 had they opened with victory.

In the other results of the day across two groups, Belgium needed its own goal to earn a draw against Egypt, another result that shocked the World Cup bookmakers. Saudi Arabia held their ground against Uruguay too to continue the shocking trend.

Iran and New Zealand played out an entertaining 2-2 draw. A game many expected to be underwhelming proved to be one of the most interesting end-to-end games of the tournament so far. What do we expect later on Tuesday?