When the favourites begin, the watch is on the player carrying the expectation. Spain open against Cape Verde Islands on June 14, and the focus falls squarely on Lamine Yamal, the teenager many believe will define this World Cup.
Spain arrive as one of the tournament's clearest favourites. The job on day one is to look the part without taking the occasion for granted.
Yamal carries the spotlight
Few players reach a World Cup with this much already expected of them. Yamal's combination of close control, vision and fearlessness in tight spaces makes him Spain's most dangerous outlet, and the wide channels are where Cape Verde will be most exposed.
The sensible read is that Spain will route a good deal of their attack through him — isolating his marker, feeding him in space, and trusting his decision-making in the final third. A favourite's opener is the ideal stage for a young star to set the tone, and Yamal has shown no sign of shrinking from that kind of billing.
If Spain are going to win this tournament, this is the player around whom it will turn. The rest of the side is built to enable him — patient possession to draw a defence out of shape, then a quick switch to find Yamal one-on-one in the space that opens.
Cape Verde's task
The Blue Sharks are at their first World Cup and will not be cowed by the setting. Their qualification was built on organisation and a willingness to defend in numbers, and that is precisely the plan against a side of Spain's quality.
The aim will be to stay compact, deny Spain the spaces between the lines, and frustrate a possession-heavy team into impatience. Cape Verde cannot match Spain's talent, but a disciplined low block and a clear counter-attacking plan can make for an awkward afternoon if the favourites are sloppy.
They have already made history simply by being here. The performance is the bonus.
Their best route to a result is patience of their own — soak up pressure, keep the back line intact, and pick the one moment a counter might land. It is a narrow path against a side of Spain's quality, but tournaments turn on narrow paths, and Cape Verde have nothing to lose by walking one.
How Spain should manage it
The trap for a passing side against a deep block is predictability — endless possession that never threatens. Spain's answer is movement and width, stretching Cape Verde horizontally before Yamal and others attack the gaps that open.
Goal difference is worth more this year, with eight third-placed teams advancing, so Spain will want more than a single-goal win if the chances come. Patience early, ruthlessness once the first goal arrives, and the afternoon should follow the script.
The verdict
The model installs Spain among the favourites for the tournament, and they should win comfortably here. Cape Verde's organisation may keep it tight for a spell, but the gap in quality is large, and Spain have too many ways to break a low block.
The real interest is in the manner of it — and in whether Lamine Yamal announces, on day one, that this is the stage he has been built for.
For a side carrying the favourites' tag, the opener is less about the result than the statement. Spain need to look like champions in waiting, and a young star running riot against a debutant is exactly the image they would choose to project.
