If you spent Monday afternoon squinting at a map of West Africa, well, you were not alone.
Cape Verde, a speck of 10 islands in the Atlantic, walked into Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for its first World Cup match ever and walked out with points against the European champions, Spain. Little Cape Verde drew 0-0 with the Spanish team that was considered one of the favorites to win the whole thing.
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The only people not stunned? The 500,000 back home in Cape Verde who knew what the Blue Sharks could do.
So, where is Cape Verde?
Picture an archipelago about 400 miles off the coast of Senegal. It’s a former Portuguese colony that gained independence in 1975. The country had never even sniffed a World Cup until this year. It is now the second-smallest nation ever to reach the tournament, trailing only Iceland. A country you could easily fit inside Mesa, Arizona, a single suburb of Phoenix.
So, the suburb-sized country just held a soccer giant to a scoreless tie.
It should not have been close.
Spain took 27 shots. Spain owned the ball. Spain had Lamine Yamal, the 18-year-old who bends games to his will, coming off the bench.
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None if that mattered, because Cape Verde had Vozinha.
The goalkeeper is 40 years old and in his own telling, has been chasing this exact moment since he was a kid. On Monday, he made seven saves and dared Spain to find a way to beat him. Spain couldn’t. Every time Spain pressured Vozinha had a penalty box crammed full of Cape Verdeans defending the goal and turning La Roja away.
This was not just luck.
Cape Verde topped a brutal African qualifying group, finishing four points ahead of Cameroon, who had made eight World Cups. The roster comes from all over the map. Cape Verde is a nation of emigrants, with nearly as many Cape Verdeans living abroad as on the islands themselves, and the team is a product of that. Its players earn paychecks at clubs spread across more than a dozen countries. Steven Moreira defends for the Columbus Crew in MLS. Roberto Lopes plays his club soccer in Ireland. Vozinha tends goal in Portugal.
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The bettors never saw it coming either.
Spain sat around -1250 on the FanDuel Sportsbook, with Cape Verde a +2700 long shot and the draw sitting at +12000.
The Blue Sharks get no breather. They play Uruguay on June 21 and Saudi Arabia on June 27. Spain gets Saudi Arabia on Sunday and a long week of questions until then.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Cape Verde? Here’s the answer after shocker vs Spain
