This Spanish Star's World Cup Performance Was so Bad it Made History

Spain are supposed to be one of the best teams in the world.

Their starting players are so expensive that just one of them are worth more than entire nation’s rosters at the 2026 World Cup, including their opponent on Monday, Cape Verde.

In what was set up to be a game like Germany’s yesterday against Curaçao, where they scored seven, turned into a Disney move for the underdogs and a horror film for the Spanish.

At the end of the game, Spain failed to record a single goal even with all their possession time and pressure, drawing with the debutant nation with a population of a little over 500,000.

Spain’s capital of Madrid alone has over three million people residing in it.

More news: A New Team Takes the Top Spot in World Cup Power Rankings After Day 4

More news: Ranking All 48 Nations at the 2026 World Cup, From Worst to First

Spain drawing with Cape Verde wasn’t the most embarrassing thing about the game, however, as that dishonor goes to the central forward for the team.

Mikel Oyarzabal was one of the betting favorites to score the most goals at this World Cup before Monday, but that has changed drastically following an inept performance in the opener.

Not only did Oyarzabal fail to score in the game, he literally did not touch the ball through the first 30 minutes of the game.

That’s right. The main striker for Spain, who passed the ball around the field against Cape Verde, did not touch the ball once through the first third of the game. He is the first person to not do so, on record, since the 1966 World Cup, the last time England won it all.

It was a humbling experience for Spain, who even had to bring out ace winger Lamine Yamal in the final quarter of the contest in an attempt to score, with the Barcelona forward coming back from injury and having not played in nearly two months.

Oyarzabal and Spain will try to rebound and confirm their spot in the knockouts against Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 4:17 PM.