Spain were held to a goalless draw with Cape Verde at the World Cup (Image: Getty)
Spain’s draw with Cape Verde at the World Cup was one of several matches at the tournament to become the subject of a match-fixing probe. Luis de la Fuente’s side won the World Cup with a victory over Argentina in the final, but were forced to settle for a point in a goalless draw with Cape Verde in their opening group match of the tournament.
It was the draw with Cape Verde that was raised as suspicious by the Council of Europe’s betting monitoring unit, the Group of Copenhagen. Spain’s draw with Cape Verde left investigators stunned that one of the lowest-ranked sides could earn a point against the future world champions. The game was placed on ‘yellow notice’, meaning that the body felt further investigation was required and was one of seven games to be flagged during the World Cup.
Approximately £3.6million was staked with US cryptocurrency-based prediction market Polymarket on Spain failing to win what had seemed at the tournament’s outset to be a formality.
However, after officials examined betting patterns, intelligence and social media activity surrounding the outcome, they concluded it was merely an extraordinary upset.
They discovered Spain had registered 27 attempts compared to six for their opponents — yet not one of the seven they managed on target could beat inspired Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha in the opening Group H encounter in Atlanta.
The 40-year-old, currently without a club, produced magnificent saves to deny Mikel Oyarzabal, Aymeric Laporte and Ferran Torres — who also struck the crossbar as Spain bombarded the Cape Verde goal. The underdogs went on to draw with both Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, securing their place in the knockout stages as group runners-up.
They were ultimately eliminated in a 3-2 defeat to reigning world champions Argentina — after extra-time — while Spain went on to claim the title by beating Argentina in the final.
FIFA’s Integrity Task Force concluded there was ‘no suspicious betting activity or indications of match manipulation’, a verdict the Group of Copenhagen concurred with — reclassifying the result as ‘green’ or ‘normal’.
A source close to world football’s governing body told the Daily Star: “It was a remarkable result. The fact it flagged up as a potentially suspicious result shows just how well Cape Verde did. But it was simply a huge shock. Shocks do happen in football.
Vozinha helped Cape Verde earn a goalless draw with Spain at the World Cup (Image: Getty)
“Argentina lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in their opening game in Qatar in 2022 and still went on to win the World Cup that year.
“Cape Verde were unbeaten this time in any match in 90 minutes. Argentina needed extra time to beat them. It was the kind of fairytale performance that makes the World Cup so special.”
The Group of Copenhagen was amongst a number of independent organisations — including the FBI — keeping watch over the tournament’s 104 matches for any indication of potential match-fixing.
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A red card shown to South Africa’s Themba Zwane in the 84th minute of his side’s opening tournament fixture against Mexico was also initially flagged as yellow before subsequently being downgraded to ‘normal’. A three-and-a-half-minute delay from the video assistant referee team to disallow a goal from Spain’s Ferran Torres in its 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia was also highlighted as a cause for concern.
Furthermore, a surge of bets placed on US striker Folarin Balogun’s red card ban being overturned so he could feature against Belgium in the last-16 was also brought to attention.
His ban was indeed suspended — allowing him to play — following a personal intervention by Donald Trump, who made a direct appeal to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Belgium subsequently performed a ‘Trump shuffle’ on the pitch after thrashing the US side 4-1.
The Group of Copenhagen noted that no other bets were available on red card bans being overturned throughout the entire tournament.
However, FIFA told the Daily Star it stood firmly behind the findings of its Integrity Task Force, which had uncovered no evidence of match outcome manipulation during the competition.
A spokesman said: “FIFA stands by the conclusions of its Integrity Task Force which is the result of a collaborative effort by a large number of independent expert groups.
“Betting‑monitoring reports and other relevant data and information provided by Task Force members, as well as information received through available reporting mechanisms, was analysed and shared among Task Force members in line with operational procedures.
“As a result no suspicious betting activity or indications of match manipulation in connection with any fixture was identified.”