With his rucksack slung over one shoulder, Roberto Pico Lopes lingered on the narrow path below the stands at the Atlanta stadium on Monday afternoon while Spain's players tried to leave the venue. More than sixty minutes after the match ended they were still unable to get by him, a bystander joked. The centre half from Crumlin admitted he felt a little short of match sharpness yet stood at the centre of Cape Verde's proudest sporting moment, an occasion his manager said reached well beyond the pitch and the sort of tale the World Cup alone can produce.

It took time and a few conversations for the scale of the achievement to register. In the closing seconds as Spain prepared their final corner Lopes checked the clock and realised time was almost up. He heard the whistle blow, heard the roar confirming Cape Verde had earned a draw on their first appearance at the finals. He saw the emotion and joy from supporters including family members. In the tunnel he met Ray Houghton, scorer of the decisive goal when Ireland beat Italy in New York three decades earlier, and shared an embrace. The moment felt special, he said, though the full meaning had not yet landed.

You remain focused on the details after the game, he explained, always reviewing what could have gone better. Houghton helped put the result in context by noting it was a point earned at the World Cup against Spain. Lopes accepted that sometimes it is right to pause and enjoy such an outcome. The team knows it can perform at a higher level and expects chances to prove that across the remaining fixtures, yet a clean sheet against one of the world's strongest sides remains a significant reward.

The video call with his Shamrock Rovers colleagues delayed his arrival in the mixed zone, something he later apologised for. He appeared wearing a badge showing the Irish and Cape Verde flags intertwined, a present from the island nation's envoy in Lisbon. Only inside the dressing room did the magnitude of the result truly hit home, and what they had accomplished is remarkable. A point in these circumstances is far more than good, it is extraordinary.

On their tournament debut the island nation of roughly six hundred thousand people had earned a draw with the European champions and pre-tournament favourites ranked sixty five places above them. No previous fixture had featured such a wide ranking gap without ending in defeat. Every element of the occasion stood out. The goalkeeper Vozinha, aged forty, produced seven saves and wept afterwards because his mother had been unable to meet visa costs. Their record scorer Ryan Mendes was making his ninety ninth cap while playing in Turkey's second tier. Striker Dailon Livramento had not found the net for his club in nearly two years. The substitute midfielder Deroy Duarte is the brother of the player he replaced.

Few stories resonated like that of Lopes, a former mortgage adviser who turned professional only at twenty four and received his first international summons at twenty eight. Born and raised in Dublin, his father Carlos arrived from Cape Verde as a cruise ship chef and met his mother Judy in the city. His ninety eight year old grandfather still farms on the island of Sao Nicolau. That heritage made him eligible, though the call up arrived via LinkedIn and was initially dismissed as spam. He became the first League of Ireland player to feature at a World Cup, let alone start in such fashion.

History was written from the opening whistle and his display prompted comparisons with Paul McGrath's performance against Italy in 1994. Lopes felt the praise overstated the case. He acknowledged the rustiness after his first full ninety minutes since April yet was pleased simply to complete the match. At the interval the players told one another the first half had gone well because they led nil nil, but they knew the hardest work lay ahead. The final corner prompted him to glance at his watch, note roughly thirty seconds remained and urge his teammates to hold firm for one last defensive stand, trusting either a header or a claim by Vozinha would end the threat.

The side would have preferred greater control in possession yet recognised the need at times to defend deep and absorb pressure, a choice that ultimately paid off. Securing a point and a shutout in their opening World Cup match against Spain is an achievement worth celebrating and remembering. The expanded tournament has drawn criticism yet this result underlined the merit of giving more nations a chance. Cape Verde's starting eleven featured players from eight different leagues, none of them the traditional top five European competitions. Their presence on this stage demonstrated they belonged and improved the event.