Honduras, Nigeria, Netherlands... Cape Verde stirs Spain's World Cup fears | OneFootball

The bitter goalless draw against Cape Verde has set alarm bells ringing in the Spanish national team. However, this unexpected stumble is nothing new in our history.

The national side carries a curious curse in its World Cup debuts, producing dark nights that fans still have not been able to forget.

Honduras, an absolute embarrassment in “our” World Cup

The first major blow of the modern era came in “our” own World Cup. Spain went into the match as the undisputed favorite in Valencia, but turned in a dreadful, flat, and uninspired performance against a weak Honduras side. That meager 1-1 draw, rescued at the last moment thanks to a penalty, planted a sea of doubts across the country.

Nigeria and the mistake that marked Zubizarreta forever

Even worse was the disaster in the opening match of France 1998. Javier Clemente’s talented team arrived at the tournament with a formidable reputation, but the defense completely fell apart. That painful 2-3 defeat went down in history because of a tragic and unforgettable mistake by goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta.

The Netherlands: total collapse in Salvador, Bahia

Without a doubt, the most brutal trauma came in Brazil 2014. Spain proudly defended its crown as world champion, but the Oranje completely tore apart Vicente del Bosque’s team. The crushing 1-5 final score was not just a thrashing, but the cruelest and most humiliating end of an era for the golden generation.

The recent stumble against Cape Verde shows that history tends to repeat itself when Spain gets complacent. The real challenge for the coaching staff will be to react immediately to prevent this latest early slip-up from turning, once again, into a national drama.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

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