Spain open Group H against minnows, Cape Verde at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Luis de la Fuente’s reigning European champions will be hoping to repeat their Euro and World Cup double success of 2008 & 10 as they begin their campaign, whilst Cape Verde are making their debut at this tournament.
Team News
Spain have no fresh injury concerns to report ahead of this match, although Lamine Yamal could have his game time managed by manager – De la Fuente following his return from a hamstring injury.
Cape Verde too have no fresh injury concerns to report, although defender – Logan Costa is expected to have his game time managed after he missed much of the recent season with an ACL injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Spain face Cape Verde at Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, USA, on Monday 15 June at 12pm EDT (5pm BST), live on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Spain’s first-ever meeting against Cape Verde in all competitions.
- Cape Verde are making their maiden World Cup appearance in this match.
- Spain are looking to avoid conceding in three consecutive matches across all competitions since a six-match streak between November 2024 – June 2025 in UEFA Nations League.
- Cape Verde have won both of their last two matches by 3-0 results (W2).
Prediction
As Group H favourites, Spain have nothing to lose coming into this match because they have the experience and quality to lay a title-favourite marker in their group opener like they did against Croatia at Euro 2024, especially given that their opposition here are inexperienced at this level.
Cape Verde though can come into this game off the back of confident 3-0 wins over Serbia and Bermuda but I do think that this will be a case of needing to be more defensive against tough opposition, especially as Spain have the superior quality and creativity to cause some damage early on.
In fact my instinct is that this could be one-sided if Spain get ahead early but Cape Verde will give this a decent go.
Prediction: Spain 3-0 Cape Verde
Result: Spain 0-0 Cape Verde
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