Spain face tiny Cape Verde in collision of swagger and wonder

Spain arrive in Atlanta with the air of a team expecting a long World Cup summer, but on Monday they face opponents carrying an equally powerful feeling: the giddy disbelief of a nation seeing its name on the tournament board for the first time.

The European champions open their Group H campaign against Cape Verde, with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia also in the section, in a fixture that looks on paper like a meeting of different football planets.

Luis de la Fuente's side have become close to immovable over the last four years, going 30 matches unbeaten since a 1-0 friendly loss to Colombia at Wembley in March 2024. Since then Spain have recorded 23 wins and seven draws playing some of the most entertaining, attacking football seen in recent times.

The only wrinkle in that spotless-looking run was a 5-4 penalty defeat to Portugal in the 2025 Nations League final after a 2-2 draw following extra time, in a match where Spain twice led but failed to retain the title they had won in 2023.

Cape Verde, however, are not merely in North America to provide the romance. The Blue Sharks were one of the surprise qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and, with fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, are the third smallest country by population to reach the tournament after Iceland in 2018 and Curacao, also in 2026.

Their rise has been stitched together from an archipelago and a diaspora. That blend proved highly effective in qualifying, where Cape Verde won seven of their 10 games, lost only once and claimed a stunning home victory over Cameroon.

Their World Cup place may feel like a fairy tale, but Cape Verde have been building credibility for years. In 2013 they qualified for their first Africa Cup of Nations and reached the quarter-finals at the first attempt.

Spain, meanwhile, may take a cautious approach with Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, who are in the final stages of recovery from hamstring injuries sustained in April. Both returned to training with their teammates on Thursday, but De la Fuente may decide patience is wiser than risk.

For Spain, the target is a second World Cup title after their 2010 triumph in South Africa. For Cape Verde, Monday offers something rarer still: the first page of a story their supporters have waited generations to read.