Spain held to scoreless draw

World Cup favourites Spain was held to a scoreless draw by Cape Verde (a group of islands in West Africa) in their World Cup group match on Monday.

It was a kind of victory for Cape Verde as some analysts expected Spain to go on a rampage against the new World Cup entrants who put up a solid defence until the very end.

Spain took the field minus their teenage star Lamine Yamal who was sent in only in the second half and yet the fancied team failed to break through their opponents’ defences.

In another interesting match Iran came from behind to draw 2-2 against New Zealand who at one stage looked comfortable to win the match.

A shock result was also averted when Maxi Araujo scored a late Uruguay equaliser to deny Saudi Arabia what would have been a memorable opening-game win at a World Cup.

Saudi Arabia stunned the world when they beat eventual winners Argentina in their first match at the last 2022 tournament in Qatar.

But they could not hold off a second-half onslaught from Uruguay - who ended with 28 shots on goal - as Marcelo Bielsa’s South American side earned a point in the Group H encounter.