The 0-0 draw in the first match of Group H of this tournament was shocking beyond just the score. Before the tournament, Opta, a soccer statistics company, predicted that Spain had the highest odds of winning, but they had an overwhelming possession and offensive attack throughout the game, but failed to break through the strong shield of Cape Verde, who was playing for the first time on the World Cup stage. Considering the overwhelming gap between 67th and 2nd place in the world rankings and the difference in soccer infrastructure, this result is enough to be recorded as a historic event. Major foreign media outlets, including The Athletic, are debating whether this game should be placed at the top of the list of all-time World Cup upsets, and this has become a huge variable that affects Spain's future bracket.

Cape Verde's storm is once again summoning the rebellion of underdogs in past World Cup history. The United States, which sank England in 1950, Cameroon, which defeated Argentina in 1990, Senegal, which defeated France in 2002, and Saudi Arabia, which defeated Argentina in 2022, were all events that overturned common sense in the soccer world. In particular, Fox Sports evaluated this game as a fourth-largest upset based on the gap in the FIFA rankings, and analyzed that it had comparable value to the case where South Africa defeated France in 2010. This data approach proves that the organized defense and fighting spirit shown by Cape Verde is not a coincidence, but the product of a thoroughly prepared strategy.

Meanwhile, behind the miracle of Cape Verde, a French revenge plot is predicted to wash away the painful memories of 24 years ago, adding to the tension. France, who remembers the painful loss to Senegal in the opening match of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, will once again face Senegal in the group stage with a combination of old and new, including Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise. Olise's outstanding performance, scoring a hat-trick in the recent friendly match against Northern Ireland, once again proved France's offensive power, but they still face the challenge of defensive instability. In this tournament, which will be coach Didier Deschamps' last World Cup, the keen interest is whether France will be able to shake off the ghosts of the past and prove its worth as a contender for the title.

As the competition heats up, economic and cultural movements outside the stadium also become dynamic. In prediction markets such as Polymarket, 'smart money' is busy, with a considerable amount of money being poured into France's failure to win, showing that soccer matches have become a place for huge data and investment beyond simple sports. In addition, tour programs that bring back memories of each stadium, from Daejeon Stadium, where Korea defeated Italy during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, to the quarterfinals in Gwangju, are stimulating nostalgia for soccer fans and heating up the enthusiasm for this North and Central America World Cup. With Asian teams performing well and competitions taking place between continents, the 2026 World Cup is writing a more unpredictable narrative than ever before.