Spain Show They Can’t Win the World Cup Without Lamine Yamal Firing

La Roja’s failure to break down one of the tournament’s lowest-ranked teams rings alarm bells.

Spain’s performance was remarkably uninspiring. | Andrew J. Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos/Getty Images

This was not the start Spain had expected going into its Group H opener against Cabo Verde. Luis De la Fuente’s team were widely anticipated to brush the debutants aside on the way to bigger and better things at this World Cup. It was not to be.

Spain, lining up without Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams from the start, toiled in possession against a side who could not have been more up for the challenge of defending.

Despite carving out an xG of 2.29 and creating several clear chances, Spain could not find a breakthrough—in part thanks to the heroics of 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha—and grew visibly frustrated as the game went on.

Even the introduction of Yamal in the second half couldn’t unblock Cabo Verde’s stubborn defense and, in the end, FIFA’s 67th-ranked nation earned the jubilant celebrations that will live long in the memory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the dejected-looking Spain stars face some soul searching ahead of the meeting with Saudi Arabia on Sunday. A blip can be tolerated, a repeat performance will not be.

Here are Sports Illustrated’s three key takeaways from the match.

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Reliance on Yamal Never More Clear

Lamine Yamal’s creative flair was badly missed. | ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images

The plan was for Yamal and Williams to be eased gradually back into the swing of things for Spain this summer after their respective injuries. The plan may have just changed.

While Spain has the players to keep possession all day, there is no clear substitute for the game-changing, ankle-twisting creativity that Yamal brings out wide. The teenager’s directness was a difference maker at Euro 2024 two years ago and he has since become integral to the way Spain plays.

Spain may be reliant on Yamal and, to a lesser extent, Williams—what team wouldn’t be?—but there needs to be a clearer Plan B for breaking down stubborn opponents who back themselves to hold strong against patient, largely horizontal buildup.

Víctor Muñoz could be another outlet to ease the burden on Yamal as he seeks full fitness, but it’s not an exaggeration to say Spain won’t win this World Cup without its talisman leading from the front.

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Lessons From Switzerland

It’s the not first time Spain has suffered an opening match embarrassment at the World Cup. | Roberto SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images

Spain can take heart from its one World Cup victory to date back in 2010, when the favorites suffered a shock opening day defeat to Switzerland in South Africa.

The freak result led to speculation that Vicente Del Bosque’s Europe-conquering side wasn’t a great as previously thought and that tiki-taka was, in fact, overrated. However, Spain rallied to win the next six matches—conceding just once more all tournament—to claim ownership of the World Cup trophy.

In 2022 as well, eventual winners Argentina fell to a humiliating 2–1 defeat to little-fancied Saudi Arabia in its first match, before turning things around.

Any obituaries written on Spanish football today will be far too premature—particularly given the new World Cup format’s generosity to slow starters—and the European champions may well hit back with vengeance on Sunday.

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Cabo Verde Aren’t Here to Make Up the Numbers

Vozinha was the star of the show on Monday. | Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Spain’s lack of drive will dominate internet space in the coming days, but Cabo Verde is the real story.

The African islands with a population of around 530,000—smaller than at least six Spanish cities—put in a shift to frustrate FIFA’s second-highest ranked team.

To a man, Bubista’s side proved themselves to be no pushovers and more than worthy of their place in this expanded World Cup.

Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper currently playing in Portugal’s second tier, elevated himself to World Cup cult hero status alongside the likes of Guillermo Ochoa with his seven saves. Captain Ryan Mendes ran like a man parked on a double yellow all night, while Irish-born Pico Lopes’s consistently put his body on the line to deny some of the world’s top attacking talent.

Spain will face more talented opposition this summer, but it won’t come up against more a committed one.

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