Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, whose full name is Josimar José Évora Dias, turned away repeated Spanish pressure through the match. Spain finished with seven shots on goal, but the game ended 0-0. Lydia Lutake, a 20-year-old studying data science and design was among those watching and cheered the underdog side throughout.
He's carrying that team!
Lutake follows FC Barcelona and several of its players also represent Spain, but she backed Cape Verde because her home country, Tanzania, did not qualify for the 2026 World Cup. She had planned to watch the match anyway and chose to spend it with others at the center's opening watch party.
Center director Cindy Nyugen said the FIFA World Cup offers a shared global experience that fits the campus community, especially during finals week and the summer season when students can relax, reflect, and meet people from other cultures.
The FIFA World Cup represents this very unique shared experience across the world and I think that really represents our community, so it felt like a natural fit.
Student Pulliwar, who first got into the sport during the 2014 World Cup final between Argentina and Germany, said he was especially looking forward to Tuesday's Argentina match against Algeria and Lionel Messi. He recalled watching Messi win his first World Cup with friends in India in 2022 and called it the best day of his life.
Amisi Angwi, 21, a behavioral neuroscience major who does not consider herself a football fan, joined between study sessions and said she was happy with Cape Verde's performance. With Boston serving as one of the 2026 host cities, she pointed to Scotland's 1-0 win over Haiti in the opening stretch and said fan festivals around the city have made the tournament feel larger than the games alone.
It was really cool seeing elements of Scottish and Haitian culture, and how two very different cultures can combine, which is what I think is great about the World Cup. It brings people together. It's more than just the games.
Three more watch parties are scheduled at the Curry Student Center:
- June 23: Portugal vs Uzbekistan
- July 1: match yet to be announced
- July 7: match yet to be announced
During the scoreless Cape Verde-Spain match, attendees ate popcorn and talked about sports access, football rules, and new broadcast technology that lets viewers watch from the referee's point of view, staying locked in as five minutes of extra time ran down.
