‘We’ve arrived!’: Cape Verde fans exult in World Cup draw with Spain

Iran plays New Zealand during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Tournament in Los Angeles, June 15, 2026. (Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times)

By RICK ROJAS

Spain was the powerhouse, heading into its first game of the 2026 World Cup earlier this week, and ranked as one of the favorites to win the entire tournament.

Cape Verde, a tiny island nation off the West African coast that was once part of the Portuguese empire, was an unlikely qualifier playing its first World Cup game.

Monday’s match ended in a draw, 0-0.

For Cape Verde fans, that in itself counted as a victory.

“We’ve arrived! We’ve arrived!” said Alex Depina, who traveled from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the game in Atlanta and had plans to attend the team’s remaining group-stage matches in Miami on Sunday and Houston on June 26. “The world didn’t know us, but now they’re going to know us.”

Cape Verde is an archipelago of 10 small islands and roughly 500,000 people about 350 miles off the coast of Senegal in the Atlantic Ocean. It is among the smallest nations, both in terms of land mass and population, to ever qualify for the World Cup.

For fans in Atlanta on Monday, just making it to the game and going up against one of the best-ranked teams in the world, felt like history in the making. It turned out to make more history than they had anticipated.

“For us to challenge the No. 2!” said Adilson Cardoso, who lives in Atlanta and whose mother and father are from Cape Verde, referring to Spain’s ranking heading into the tournament. “Everyone needs to be watching for us!”

As the stadium in Atlanta began to clear, many Cape Verde fans lingered in the stands, waving blue, red and white banners and draping themselves in the country’s flag. They jumped and cheered and wiped tears from their eyes.

Dilvia Teixeira was suddenly much more confident about the team’s prospects: They had held off Spain, she said. There’s no telling what else the team could do.

“They’re going to win!” she said, boldly predicting that the gold World Cup trophy would fly with the team back to Cape Verde.