Spain is the favorite to win the World Cup. Cape Verde, an island nation of roughly 500,000 people, 400 miles off the West Coast of Africa, is the biggest long shot to lift the trophy.
These two nations will meet on Monday in Atlanta.
The oddsmakers are not projecting it to be close. You can get 27/1 odds on Cape Verde to win.
Most soccer fans will be quite familiar with this Spain squad. La Furia Roja won Euro 2024 with a young squad, headlined by then 16-year-old Lamine Yamal.
Two years later, Luis de la Fuente has brought roughly the same roster to North America for the World Cup. It’s rare for an international team with this much talent to be this stable.
Yamal is a doubt to play in this match, and so is Nico Williams, but losing two of the world’s best attacking players is no big deal for Spain. They’ve got more than enough scoring punch that they can ease their hobbled stars back into the lineup when the time is right.
Spain could play its reserve squad and would still be expected to waltz to a win over Cape Verde.
The one thing that Cape Verde has going for it in this match, and the tournament, is stability. Bubista has been in charge of the team since 2020 and has presided over its best era. It’s a monumental achievement for the Blue Sharks to be in this tournament.
Cape Verde will be happy to throw as many players behind the ball as they can and grind out results. They’ll rely on counter-attacks, but Spain’s playmakers in the middle of the field are just too good to expect much of a threat from the Blue Sharks in transition. La Roja also has Rodri in the middle of the park, and he is one of the best players in the world at snuffing out counters before they get into a dangerous area.
Because of the format of this tournament, Cape Verde will be desperate to keep this scoreline as low as possible to give itself a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds as one of the eight best third-place finishers.
Unfortunately, Spain has so much technical skill, that La Furia Roja are built to pick apart a team sitting deep and defending with their lives.
The Play: Spain -3.5 goals (+176, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
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