During the morning of this Monday, June 15, the selection of Cape Verde achieved an unexpected draw against the powerful Spain in his debut at the 2026 World Cup, so the image of the goalkeeper Vozinha crying with emotion after the end of the game has become one of the most representative of the World Cup in North America.
The stadium located in atlanta was the scene of the clash between one of the most modest of this World Cup and the Spanish team, which the bets placed as one of the favorites for the title. However, the picture African He managed to defend his goal and neutralize Spain’s offensive talent until achieving a goalless draw.
Very few people were betting on Cape Verde and, although they only managed to rescue a draw at the venue of Georgiathe followers of the Blue Sharks They celebrated it as a victory, since this was the first point of the African team in the entire history of the World Cup, achieved against a champion of the world.
Given this scenario, Josimar Dias, Better known as Vozinha, he was the most valuable player of the game, because, at 40 years old, he made seven key saves to keep his undefeated goal and stop Spanish figures like Ferran TowersMikel Oyarzabal and Aymeric Laportewho came across the better version of the Cape Verdean goalkeeper.
Where is Cape Verde?
Cape Verde is a country insular formed by ten volcanic islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the northwest coast of Africa. It is therefore located about 460 kilometers west of Senegal and 970 kilometers southwest of the Canary Islands. Despite this, their language is Portuguese and its national language is Cape Verdean Creole.
Given this situation, after qualifying for the World Cup in October 2025, Cape Verde became the third nation with minor population to qualify for a World Cup, with 525 thousand inhabitants, only behind Iceland, which participated in the 2018 World Cup, and Curacao, another team that qualified for the 2026 edition.
At the time of qualifying, Cape Verde was also the country with the lowest surface to qualify for a World Cup, but was surpassed shortly after by Curacao. However, the Black Panthers of the Caribbean debuted with a heavy 7-1 defeat against Germanywhile the Blue Sharks they tied against Spain.
This is because Cape Verdeans in the foreignwhich are more numerous that the population of the islands themselves constitute a very important of players for the national team. In fact, the majority of current international footballers were born outside Cape Verde, mainly in Europealthough also in Asia.
Cape Verde: With our mind on Uruguay and Arabia
The Cape Verde coach, Pedro Leitao Britobetter known as Bubistastood out after the goalless draw against Spain, in the first match in its history in a World Cup, that his team played with “resilience”, the ability to adapt to adverse situations, traumas or tragedies, as well as the population of this country.
“It means everything to our country. We have always said that we wanted everyone to see how our team plays. We have shown courageplaying organized and with resilience, a simile of our country to overcome all the obstacles“added Bubista, who is already preparing to face Uruguay and Saudi Arabia.
🏁 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗘𝗟 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗗𝗢.
🇪🇸 🆚 🇨🇻 | 0-0 | 90+5′#VamosSpain | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/RH0ZT6mLhJ
— Spanish Men’s Soccer Team (@SEFutbol) June 15, 2026