2026 World Cup: Yamal News, Lineups, and Preview for Spain vs Cape Verde

Marrakech – European champions Spain begin their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign against debutants Cape Verde at Atlanta Stadium on Monday at 12 p.m. local time (5 p.m. Morocco time). The Group H opener pits one of the tournament’s strongest squads against one of its smallest nations, as the Blue Sharks step onto football’s biggest stage for the first time.

Viewers in Morocco can catch the match on Arryadia TNT, the free-to-air channel operated by national broadcaster SNRT, or through beIN Sports, which holds exclusive World Cup rights across the MENA region. In Spain, the game airs on LA 1 and streams on RTVE Play. US audiences can tune in on FOX for English-language coverage or Telemundo in Spanish. In the United Kingdom, ITV1 carries the broadcast.

Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente confirmed on Sunday that Moroccan star winger Lamine Yamal has fully recovered from the hamstring injury that sidelined him since late April. The 18-year-old Barcelona forward missed the final stretch of his club’s La Liga-winning season and sat out Spain’s pre-tournament friendlies against Iraq and Peru.

“The best news is that he is in perfect condition,” De la Fuente told reporters at a pre-match press conference inside Atlanta Stadium. “We have followed the process we planned from the beginning, and he has arrived at this stage exactly when we wanted him to.”

Despite the positive fitness update, Yamal will not feature in the starting XI. De la Fuente confirmed the teenager will begin on the bench alongside Athletic Club winger Nico Williams and Osasuna’s Victor Munoz, both returning from hamstring and calf problems, respectively.

“They’re all available, but they won’t be able to play from the start of the match,” the coach explained. “We’ll have to wait and see how the game progresses, and then we’ll make a decision on how they can contribute to the team.”

Spain’s projected lineup points to Unai Simon in goal behind a back four of Marcos Llorente, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, and Marc Cucurella. Rodri, Pedri, and Fabian Ruiz are expected to anchor the midfield, with Ferran Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal, and Alex Baena filling the attacking roles.

Cucurella’s inclusion comes amid reports of an agreed move from Chelsea to Real Madrid, though De la Fuente dismissed any potential distraction. Barcelona attacking midfielder Fermin Lopez is the squad’s only absentee, ruled out for the entire tournament after breaking a bone in his right foot in May.

Spain enter the competition ranked No. 2 in the FIFA world rankings and carry a 30-match unbeaten run stretching back to March 2024. Their last defeat came in a friendly against Colombia at Wembley.

Since winning the 2010 World Cup, however, La Roja have struggled at the tournament proper, crashing out in the group stage in 2014 and falling in the round of 16 in both 2018 and 2022, the latter at the hands of Morocco’s Atlas Lions. Their Euro 2024 triumph in Germany reset expectations entirely.

On the other side of the pitch, Cape Verde arrive in Atlanta with nothing to lose. Coached by Bubista, the Blue Sharks qualified by topping CAF Group D, finishing four points clear of Cameroon across 10 matches. They recorded seven wins, two draws, and a plus-eight goal differential. Crucially, they did not concede a single goal at home during the qualifying campaign.

With fewer than 600,000 inhabitants, Cape Verde is the third smallest country by population ever to reach the World Cup, behind Iceland in 2018 and fellow 2026 debutants Curacao. The Blue Sharks (ranked No. 67) warmed up for the tournament with consecutive 3-0 friendly wins over Serbia and Bermuda.

De la Fuente described the tournament as “a competition with tremendous parity,” pointing to early results that few had predicted. He framed the opener against Cape Verde as “the most important game of this World Cup,” adding that his squad always regards “the next challenge as the most important of our lives.”

The Spain coach also offered a clear warning against taking the newcomers lightly. “They are a team with very clearly defined tactical principles,” he noted. “They have extremely quick players, they eliminated Cameroon, and many of their footballers compete in European leagues. They could very well be one of the surprise packages of this World Cup.”

Cape Verde’s expected starting lineup features Marcio Rosa in goal, with Steven Moreira, Logan Costa, Joao Paulo, and Deroy Duarte across the back four. Telmo Arcanjo, Willy Semedo, and Dailon Livramento occupy the midfield, while Ryan Mendes and Jovane Cabral lead the attack.

Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, the remaining Group H sides, meet in Miami on the same day.

Click here to read article