World Cup 2026: Spain vs Cape Verde preview, prediction, team news and head-to-head

As the current European champions, Spain will be looking to make history, and its youngsters are ready to conquer the world. Meanwhile, the African side will prove that they're not an easy nut to crack coming into this competition.

Spain will kick off this World Cup tournament as the number 1 favourites, with about a 16% chance of lifting the trophy, according to Opta’s pre-tournament supercomputer and our own World Cup 2026 betting odds for outright winner. I also personally think they can go all the way to the finals, especially if all their key players will remain fit all through the competition.

This opinion is not far-fetched, as La Roja has arguably the most balanced and complete squad. Even though we've not seen them shine at the World Cup since winning it in 2010, the team has transitioned into a very formidable force in football.

Just a bit of a back story, the 1 time champions have been unlucky in their last three attempts at the Global tournament being unable to move past the round of 16. This includes the famous 5-1 loss against the Netherlands in the group stage that many saw as a revenge mission for the Dutch side.

However, their recent successes at both the Euros and European Nations Leagues have shown that the Spanish side is ready to take over the world. I'm also sure that all eyes will be on Yamal, the Barcelona wonderkid who recently made an unexpected promise to the team.

As for Cape Verde, this will be the first time the West African nation will feature at the world football tournament. Although they've come close to qualifying on a few occasions, it showed in the qualification rounds that this will be a breakthrough year for the Blue Sharks.

I don't see the African side doing much in this tournament, considering the heavyweights drawn in Group H, including Spain and Uruguay. However, teams like this are also up for upsets, especially when the bigger boys forget to hold their guards tight.

Both nations will be meeting for the first time on Monday, with Spain having lost to an African country only once in the famous 3-2 defeat against Nigeria in 1998.

There's good news in the La Roja camp as both Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams are back to full training. At first, I thought Luis de la Fuente would have a headache with his first team selection, but it seems he has everything figured out before the start of the competition. 

While I expect Pedri to be the heart of the midfield, Unai Simón still remains Spain's undisputed number one choice in the post. In defence, the partnership of Pau Cubarsi and Aymeric Laporte is most likely, while Mikel Oyarzabal is favoured to lead the attack.

For Cape Verde, the team will heavily rely on Dailon Livramento to cause trouble for the defence of their European opponents, especially after helping his side score 4 goals in the qualification rounds heading to the World Cup. Pedro Leitao Brito may also want to start Ryan Mendes, who is the country's highest goal scorer of all time.

Spain starting lineup: Simon; Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Ruiz, Rodri, Pedri; F Torres, Oyarzabal, Baena.

Cape Verde lineup: Vozinha; Moreira, Costa, Pico, Paulo; Semedo, Pina; Mendes, Monteiro, Cabral; Dailon

In my opinion, Cape Verde deserves to be respected for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup despite this being their first time. However, I don't see them doing much against the Spanish side, who I think will dominate the match in most of the minutes.

The pairing of Pedri and Fabian Ruiz will give La Roja the possession, while the fast pace of wingers Yamal and Nico Williams will certainly trouble the defence.

In all, I'm tipping Spain to win this tie comfortably and even top the group as we've already predicted in our World Cup 2026 betting prediction, provided their strikers are able to take all their chances and convert them. It will also be difficult for Cape Verde to score a goal since I'm not seeing any possibilities of them getting many counter attack opportunities. Therefore, a clean sheet is likely possible in this fixture.

Correct score: Spain 3-0 Cape Verde 

• Spain to win

• Over 2.5 goals

• Lamine Yamal to score.