Cape Verde Does It Again. Salah Finally Gets His World Cup Win. And Spain Just Announced Themselves.

Day 11 of the World Cup in North America did not let up. If you blinked, you missed something wild. Let’s get you caught up.

Spain Put on a Clinic After That Embarrassing Draw

Spain walked into Atlanta with something to prove after Cape Verde held them to a tie in their opener. The reigning European champions responded by dismantling Saudi Arabia 4-0. And it was over before most fans settled into their seats.

Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal assisted Lamine Yamal for his first World Cup goal in the 10th minute. Then Oyarzabal scored twice in the next 14 minutes. By the 24th minute it was 3-0. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente pulled both Oyarzabal and Yamal at halftime with the game already wrapped up. An own goal from Hassan Al-Tambakti made it 4-0 in the second half. Ferran Torres had a fifth goal disallowed on a VAR offside review. But the message was sent: Spain is not messing around anymore.

Cape Verde Might Be Everyone’s Second-Favorite Team Now

Speaking of Cape Verde, the Blue Sharks are the story of this tournament so far. After that shock draw against Spain — largely thanks to 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha playing out of his mind — they went to Miami and pulled another rabbit out of the hat against Uruguay.

Kevin Pina scored Cape Verde’s first ever World Cup goal on a free kick in the 21st minute. Uruguay came back with goals from Maxi Araujo and Agustin Canobbio. Then Helio Varela pounced on a Mathias Olivera mistake to equalize. The match ended 2-2 after Federico Valverde had a close-range goal called back for offside in a frantic finish. Cape Verde now faces Saudi Arabia in Houston with a real shot at advancing to the knockout round. As for Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay, they need a result against Spain to avoid an early flight home.

Egypt Finally Gets That First Win. And It’s Mohamed Salah Who Delivers.

Over in Vancouver, Egypt ended a long, painful streak. The Pharaohs had never won a World Cup match in four previous appearances and eight total games. That changed Sunday night against New Zealand.

The All Whites took the lead first through Finn Surman, but Egypt equalized after halftime when Mostafa Zico found the net. Then Mohamed Salah took over. The soon-to-be-former Liverpool forward scored Egypt’s second goal and assisted Trezeguet off a corner for the 3-1 win. Egypt now sits on four points after drawing with Belgium in their opener. They’re in good shape to make the last 32.

Belgium earlier played a dull 0-0 draw with Iran in Los Angeles. Not much to say there. But the rest of the night? Pure World Cup chaos.