Cape Verde hold Spain, Lukaku rescues Belgium, and Iran draw a charged night

Monday belonged to the underdogs. World Cup debutants Cape Verde held the European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw, Egypt came within minutes of beating Belgium, and New Zealand twice led Iran before settling for a point. The big names did a lot of huffing and not much scoring.

Spain run into Vozinha

Spain had 27 shots and nothing to show for them. Cape Verde, at their first World Cup, defended for their lives in Atlanta and found a hero in 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, who stopped everything Spain threw at him. Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo all came off the bench; none of them solved him. Luis de la Fuente reckoned his side “should have won,” which is true and also not the point. Cape Verde will remember this one for a long time.

Lukaku needs about 20 seconds

Belgium were heading for an opening-night embarrassment. Egypt led through Emam Ashour, set up by birthday boy Mohamed Salah, and held it into the second half until Romelu Lukaku came off the bench and forced an equaliser within seconds, the ball bundled into the net by Mohamed Hany for an own goal. 1-1, and Belgium escaped with a face-saving point they barely earned.

Iran and New Zealand trade blows

The night game in Los Angeles carried more than football. Elijah Just scored twice for New Zealand and twice Iran hauled themselves level, through Ramin Rezaeian and Mohammad Mohebbi, for a 2-2 draw. Off the pitch it was tense, with protests outside the stadium and boos during Iran’s anthem from parts of the LA crowd. On it, New Zealand were one Just finish away from a famous win.

Monday's theme: four games, four draws; the debutants and the underdogs did the smiling.

See how Groups G and H look now on the live table.

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