It was by far the biggest surprise of the 2026 World Cup so far – and a result nobody saw coming.
Germany's 7-1 hammering of Curacao had already shown what can happen when the new 48-team format throws up a supposed mismatch.
So, something similar was expected when minnows Cape Verde squared up to European champions Spain for their Group H opener in Atlanta on Monday night.
However, the Blue Sharks hadn't read the script, and what followed was one of the more remarkable results in recent World Cup history.
Content to sit deep and soak up pressure from the start, Cape Verde repelled wave after wave of Spanish attacks. Still though, right up to a last-minute corner, the expectation was that La Roja would eventually break through. Except they didn't.
Instead, Cape Verde and their unlikely heroes celebrated a historic point and created their own slice of tournament history.
Veteran Vozinha stands tall
Taking the plaudits at the final whistle was Cape Verde's veteran goalkeeper Vozinha, whose string of saves kept his side in the game.
The 40-year-old would have woken up to overnight fame this morning, and would also have discovered his Instagram following had jumped from 45k to more than five million.
Vozinha has been Cape Verde's goalkeeper since 2012 following a nomadic club career consisting of spells in Angola, Moldova, Portugal, Cyprus and Slovakia.
These days he can be found between the sticks for GD Chaves in the Portuguese second division where he is more used to keeping goal in front of average crowds of 1,200 people at the Estadio Municipal de Chaves.
But when his big moment came at the 71,000-seater Mercedes-Benz Stadium, he stood tall with an inspired collection of stops to deny Pedri, Ferran Torres and Aymeric Laporte, among others.
“We knew we were playing against one of the best national teams in the world, but we also know our quality,” Vozinha told Fifa's official website.
“We worked a lot for this big day. We knew it was going to be very difficult, but we are very happy.”
An Irish defender recruited on LinkedIn
Vozinha was just one of many heroes on the night for the tiny Atlantic Ocean island nation.
By population (524,000) they are the third smallest country to feature at a World Cup after fellow tournament debutants Curacao (156,000) and 2018 qualifiers Iceland (350,000).
They weren't meant to qualify in the first place, but overperformed in CAF Group D to finish above continental heavyweights Cameroon.
Key to their success has been the recruitment of players from the diaspora. As a former colony of Portugal, many of their players have experience of playing Portuguese club football.
But one of the more colourful stories is that of defender Pico Lopes, who was vital at the back against the Spanish, throwing his body in front of shots and blocking and fighting to the end.
Born in Crumlin, Ireland, Lopes built a solid domestic career at Shamrock Rovers but never really felt international football was a possibility.
He has since won 44 caps thanks to his Cape Verdean heritage, although it might have been more had he not initially ignored a LinkedIn message from the Cape Verde manager because it was in Portuguese.
Almost a year later when the same message arrived he opened up Google Translate and enthusiastically accepted the offer.
A moral victory for 'minor' nations
Spain had 24 shots but couldn’t find a way through, even turning to the half-fit superstar Lamine Yamal in the closing stages.
Speaking after their resilient performance, Cape Verde manager Pedro Leitao Brito insisted that his side and others benefiting from the expanded format should not feel any need to apologise for their defensive approach.
“I think that we have to congratulate the so-called ‘minor' teams for their organisation and for the work that they have carried out with their national teams,” Leitao Brito said through an interpreter. “This is a more open world now, and smaller national teams are more entitled to face higher-level teams.”
Cape Verde are down at 67th in the Fifa rankings, and Spain boss Luis de la Fuente admitted his side had learnt a lesson.
“We have generated enough scoring chances, but perhaps we have lacked finesse. Nevertheless, this team is reliable,” De la Fuente said.
“This match has taught us that the World Cup is a tournament with a lot of parity and very challenging. For us, nothing has changed. We have our feet on the ground. We know what needs to be improved”.
