2026 World Cup: a Spanish international sets a terrible record

There are records that footballers could do without. The one established by Mikel Oyarzabal, Monday evening, in Atlanta, is certainly one of them. Because the captain of Real Sociedad, established by his coach Luis de la Fuente, at the forefront of the Iberian attack, experienced a real nightmare during Spain’s entry into the 2026 World Cup against Cape Verde (0-0).

Faced with an opposing rearguard perfectly suited to his task, the Spanish international (54 caps, 25 goals) hardly had the opportunity to put himself in the spotlight. And that’s an understatement to say. According to the specialist site “Opta”, the 29-year-old center forward did not touch a single ball during the first thirty minutes of play, thus becoming the very first player since the 1966 World Cup to experience such a shortage during the first half hour of a match.

Terrible, this statistic alone reflects the enormous difficulties encountered by “Roja” facing valiant Cape Verdeans, arranged in a low block and perfectly prepared from a tactical point of view. Despite the entries into play of Lamine Yamal or Nico Williams in the second period, two key players in the conquest of Euro 2024, Spain never found the solution for its first match in Group H.

A better record for Vozinha

In the opposing ranks, Vozinha became the hero of an entire nation. Strong man of the feat achieved by the “Blue Sharks” on the occasion of their very first appearance in the final phase of a World Cup and elected man of the match by FIFA, thanks to his seven saves, the 40-year-old goalkeeper became, on Monday, the oldest goalkeeper in the world. achieve a shutout in his first World Cup appearance.

Spain will try to really launch their tournament on Sunday (6 p.m.) against Saudi Arabia, while Cape Verde will seek to extend their fairy tale the next day (12 a.m.) against Uruguay.

Chris Geiger (cge) has been a journalist in the sports section of 20 minutes since 2021. His main interest is in ice hockey.