Cape Verde hold Spain to historic draw 

European champions Spain have been held to a draw in their first match by Cape Verde, in the nation’s first-ever World Cup game. Meanwhile, footballers and fans have waded in on the latest World Cup controversy – hydration breaks. Follow the latest.

The European champions have been tipped by the bookies as title favourites, with many having backed La Roja to win today’s clash convincingly.

Spain had almost 75% of the possession and the shots were heavily in their favour, but Luis de la Fuente’s side were unable to convert their chances.

It’s an incredible result for Cape Verde in their first World Cup appearance.

The Spanish were heavily favored in the match and expected to waltz against a small nation debuting in the world’s biggest sporting event, hoping to mimic Germany’s 7-1 win against Curaçao a day earlier. Instead, they ran into a rock-solid Cape Verde defense that stifled the talented Spaniards.

Spain dipped into its talented-but-recovering-from-injury bench, playing stars Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams in the final minutes to try and break through the determined Cape Verde defenders. They had no luck.

In the final minutes of the game, the match turned into a back-and-forth affair as Spain threw everything forward to end the scoreless draw. That allowed Cape Verde to have a few opportunities going forward, including a corner kick that resulted in an unmarked Cape Verdean player having an open header that was sent directly at the Spanish keeper.