Africa

Mundo Deportivo AS Newspaper Player Ratings Spain vs Cape Verde 2026- Cucurella, Gavi & others

Here is a look at the Spanish and European newspaper player ratings for Spain vs Cape Verde following their 0-0 draw. Spain dominated xG and total shots (74% possession and nearly 4x as many shots), but could not find a way past Vozinha in the Cabo Verde goal.

Diario AS Newspaper player ratings Spain vs Cape Verde World Cup 2026

The Spanish newspaper had Chelsea (soon to be Real Madrid) left back Marc Cucurella as the pick of the Spanish players (Cucu was the only player to get 2 stars when the rest had to be content with a 1 star), and thought Fabian Ruiz and Gavi’s performances didn’t even merit a rating.

Arsenal medio Mikel Merino with a single star off the bench, but no player on either side got 3 stars for their performance.

Spain vs Cabo Verde 2026 Player Ratings Diario AS

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xG Spain Cape Verde World Cup 2026 | Expected Goals Match Stats ESP 0-0 Cabo Verde

Here is a look at the xG (expected goals) stats from Spain vs Cape Verde at the 2026 World Cup. Despite having 27 total shots and 74% ball possession, Spain were unable to score a goal and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

xG Spain 2.03-0.21 Cape Verde shots map (Actual score ESP 0-0 CPV)

Spain didn’t really create too many high xG chances- their best chance of the game was probably the double opportunity that fell to Ferran Torres (hit crossbar) and Oyarzabal (header saved by Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha) in the 39th minute.

Only 7 of Spain’s 27 total shots were on target.

As stunning as it sounds, despite defending for most of the game, Cape Verde committed only 1 foul in the whole game (Spain committed 10 fouls by comparison)

xg spain vs cape verde 2026

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Mexico El Tri vs South Africa Bafana 2026 Newspaper Player Ratings CDS AS L’Equipe- World Cup opening game

Here is a look at the Mexico vs South Africa World Cup 2026 player ratings from the big European sports newspapers. El Tri comfortably beat South Africa 2-0.

Diario AS player ratings Mexico vs South Africa 2-0 World Cup 2026

Diario AS thought some of the South African players- Bafana jersey number 13 Sithole in particular, didn’t deserve a rating here.

Mexico didn’t really have to exert themselves too much for the win- as evinced by loads of El Tri players getting two stars (but no 3 star performance)

Mexico vs Bafana Player Ratings 2026 AS

L’Equipe player ratings MEX 2-0 RSA FWC 2026

Not surprisingly, poor Sithole got a brutal 2/10 rating here from French paper L’Equipe, with the rest of the Bafana players also not really impressing. Sithole was partly responsible for Mexico’s 9th minute opener, which saw Julian Quinones join 22 other players in history as one of the opening World Cup goal scorers. Cesar Montes’ red card spoilt the party a bit for Mexico at the end.

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