What Spain's shocking draw with Cape Verde means for World Cup Group H chances

What Spain’s shocking draw with Cape Verde means for World Cup Group H chances originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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In the country’s first-ever World Cup game, Cape Verde made tournament history by drawing against Spain, one of the world’s best national soccer teams.

The second-smallest country in population and the smallest country by land size in the entire tournament just finished one of the most surprising World Cup games ever by stealing a point from a World Cup trophy threat. 

After the shocking result, many fans have been asking what this means for Spain’s World Cup future. Just how dire is La Roja’s next result against Saudi Arabia on Sunday?

Here’s the latest on Spain’s World Cup knockout chances after the juggernauts tied with one of the smallest countries.

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What Spain’s shocking draw with Cape Verde means for World Cup chances

Despite drawing Cape Verde on Monday afternoon, Spain is far from out of this year’s World Cup. Both sides earned a point in a tie, so the effort was not completely lost for the Spanish super team.

Heading into this match, Cape Verde was ranked No. 67 in the FIFA rankings. Spain, on the other hand, came into this tournament as the second-best team in the world. The result, rankings-wise, is one of the most shocking finishes in World Cup history. 

It is important to note that Spain lost their opening match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa 1-0 to Switzerland, and went on to win every game after that en route to the country’s first World Cup trophy.

Spain will need to rebound greatly against Saudi Arabia (No. 61 in FIFA rankings) this upcoming Sunday, while Cape Verde looks to continue their Cinderella story against Uruguay (No. 16 in FIFA rankings) later that night.

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Spain World Cup schedule

Spain will have matches against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay in the 2026 World Cup. Here is Spain’s schedule against Group H at this year’s tournament.

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationJune 15—Spain 0-0 Cape VerdeMercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)June 2112 p.m.Spain vs. Saudi ArabiaMercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)June 268 p.m.Uruguay vs. SpainEstadio Akron (Guadalajara)

World Cup Group H standings

With one Group H match in the books so far, here is how the group has shaped up after the shocking draw.

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