Image source, Getty Images

Spain's victory in the 2024 Euros came on the back of a disappointing showing at the 2022 World Cup.

They have not scored a goal at the World Cup since Alvaro Morata's 11th-minute header against Japan in their final group match in Qatar.

Since then, Spain have had 49 shots and completed 2,500 passes without finding the net.

That game against Japan was followed by a 0-0 draw in their last-16 match against Morocco - which they eventually lost on penalties - and another stalemate against Cape Verde to start their 2026 campaign.

Image source, Getty Images

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has pointed to the country's consistent recent record as a reason to be confident they can bounce back from their disappointing opening draw against Cape Verde.

"A team that is on a more than 30-match unbeaten run can't have any doubts," De la Fuente told a news conference, pointing to the European champions' consistency over more than three years.

"The solution is to stick with the same approach, to keep improving with more finesse, but there you go. We created plenty of chances, but lacked the freshness you need in these games.

"They're [Cape Verde] very well organised; they ‌sat deep as a unit, and it was very difficult to create space."

Spain finished the match with Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams on the pitch after both were introduced late in the second half, with De la Fuente managing their return from hamstring injuries.

"The aim is to gradually bring them into the team and give them playing time," he added.

"I'm sure they'll improve, like they did against Saudi Arabia, in the next match and in the ones after that."

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist on Football Daily

Do you know how many teams we've beaten [in the World Cup finals] since winning the World Cup in 2010?

Iran, Australia, and Costa Rica only.

We get a little bit distracted by us having won the European championship but to be honest since we won the World Cup, we've been a disaster.

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist on Football Daily

Image source, BBC Sport

There wasn't a lot of space and no one was finding [Mikel Oyarzabal].

Imagine you make two or three runs and you're not found. He didn't give up, but he gave the message to 'be patient, don't make the pass for the sake of it, it will happen'.

But that did the opposite, it was slowing things down - they didn't want to risk anything, or lose the ball and they thought 'if there is a counter, we're going to be killed here'.

So Spain just did not find a way.

Vozinha had 45,000 followers before he made seven saves to keep a clean sheet against European champions Spain on Monday night.

Here's how his Instagram follower count is looking as of 9.30am on Tuesday morning - and it's still rising.

For context, England number one Jordan Pickford has 1.6m followers. And the official page of the Cape Verde football association has a following of 254,000.

Image source, Instagram

Image source, Getty Images

Spain, the reigning European champions, have form for making poor starts to World Cups.

They have only won their first match in three of their past 15 appearances, drawing five and losing seven.

One of those seven defeats, however, came in 2010 - when they went on to lift the trophy for the first time.

It has been a lean period for the country at World Cups since then, though.

A group-stage exit in 2014 was followed by successive losses in the last 16 in 2018 and 2022.

They have played 12 matches since beating the Netherlands in the 2010 final but have only won three times.

Elizabeth Conway
BBC Sport Spanish football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Roared on by thousands of Cape Verde supporters, Vozinha stood firm against Spain's relentless attack, making seven crucial saves - the only goalkeeper over 40 years of age to have made more in a World Cup match was Pat Jennings with 10 on his 41st birthday for Northern Ireland against Brazil in 1986.

Each save was greeted like a Cape Verde goal by those in the stands in Atlanta.

Away from the ground, he was becoming a viral sensation, too - rising from 50,000 followers on Instagram to more than 5m after CazeTV - the YouTube channel which has the World Cup rights in Brazil, urged their watchers to follow him.

"That is crazy," he remarked to reporters when told about it afterwards.

Image source, Getty Images

Cape Verde holding Spain to a goalless draw is one of Tuesday's main talking points, but one of the main reasons they achieved that memorable result is because of goalkeeper Vozinha.

Tears streamed down the 40-year-old's face at the full-time whistle, as he had delivered the performance of his life against the European champions.

"I cried because I grew up with my grandparents," said Vozinha after being awarded player of the match. "Unfortunately they were not here. They died a few years before. They were everything for me, everything for my life.

"And also because of my mum. She didn't manage to be here because of the visa. Because of the money you have to pay for the visa, we didn't manage on time. I would like her to be here.

"I started playing professional football when I was 25 years old, in 2012. It was too late for a person like me.

"I thought about leaving the national team, but then I continued because of this dream."

And the man who has spent his entire career chasing the dream of playing at a World Cup now holds a competition record.

At 40 years and 12 days, he became the oldest player to appear in a nation's debut World Cup match, surpassing the record set on Sunday by Curacao's Eloy Room.

In fact, only Egypt's Essam El Hadary was older when making their World Cup debut.

Pat Nevin
Former Scotland winger on BBC Sportsound

Vozinha has been absolutely brilliant. He's done it at 40 years of age. Every single camera is on him, all his players are pointing to him. It is a beautiful moment.

Cape Verde spent the vast majority of the game in their own 18-yard box - not all of it, and when they broke they were brave and they broke in numbers.

To do that and to keep that level of concentration, you don't do that if you're a bunch of individuals, you only do that if you're a team.

So how did Cape Verde manage to bridge the gap to European champions Spain?

Reaction from pundits can be grouped into two camps:

1. Teamwork makes the dream work
2. Cape Verde's veteran goalkeeper Vozinha was absolutely inspired

Image source, Getty Images

When it comes to comparisons, Spain and Cape Verde are worlds apart.

While the World Cup debutants have a population of approximately 500,000, an estimated 49.7m people currently live in Spain.

In terms of footballing pedigree, the current European champions, who won the World Cup for the one and only time in 2010, are currently ranked third in the world.

They were second in the world before Monday's draw.

Cape Verde, meanwhile, have jumped three places to 62nd on the back of their stunning World Cup debut.

Before yesterday's Group H opener there were 65 places between the two sides in the official Fifa rankings.

That is the biggest gap in a World Cup game that did not end in the higher-ranked side winning.

Image source, Getty Images

For those of you that aren't too familiar with Cape Verde, don't worry, we have you covered.

The former Portuguese colony comprises 10 islands and five islets, all but three of which are mountainous.

The collection of islands are around 500km off the west coast of Africa and it was at one time a centre of the slave trade.

Today, more people with origins in the islands live outside the country than inside it and the money that they send home brings in much-needed foreign currency.

Their population is estimated to be between 491,000 to 525,000 and their two main languages are Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole.

They are the third-smallest country to qualify for a World Cup in terms of population, behind fellow 2026 debutants Curacao and Iceland in 2018.

Paul Njie
BBC News in Praia, Cape Verde

The streets of Cape Verde's capital, Praia, shook to the deafening sounds of vuvuzelas, chants and car horns, after the Blue Sharks held European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw in their World Cup opener.

Though the sides shared the points, for many Cape Verdeans it felt more like a win.

"It was an emotional moment," said Isa Conceição, a supporter who was watching the match from a packed fan zone.

She, like thousands of other attendees, was dressed in a blue national team jersey to show pride in her country's World Cup exploits. Much of the island nation erupted in wild celebrations at the final whistle.

"Being a small country and being able to achieve such a good result against Spain, a football powerhouse, is the greatest feeling ever," she told the BBC.

Men, women, and children were all dancing to the rhythm of the official World Cup song released by the Cape Verdean Football Federation.

As the beats of "nos óra dja txiga" played through the fan zone, supporters chanted along in excitement – some waving the national flag. The word is Cape Verdean Creole for "our time has come".

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Ange Postecoglou
Former Australia manager on ITV

The greatness of sport and football lies in the intangibles.

There was something inside those Cape Verde players that wasn't going to let them yield today. We analyse games and say Spain should win this comfortably but we don't have what they have down there inside them, in their heart.

There's a small nation of people now who will say they're from Cape Verde and there's a recognition from everybody in the world about who they are.

Lee Dixon
Former England and Arsenal defender on ITV

It's absolutely fantastic, a brilliant, brilliant performance.

They deserve that point more than anything and Spain almost don't deserve a point.

They'll walk off disappointed, this night is Cape Verde's. What a performance.

Every single one of them. The centre-half, the full-backs, that man there [goalkeeper Vozinho] crying. I'm nearly crying myself."