Pedro Sánchez Heads Spain Soccer Into Cape Verde Clash, Trump Feud
Spain soccer opens its World Cup campaign against Cape Verde in Atlanta on Monday as one of the joint favorites with France. The match comes with Pedro Sánchez still locked in a bitter standoff with Donald Trump. Spain wants to end the tournament at MetLife Stadium on July 19.
Yamal and Rodri for Spain
Spain arrives with the profile of a contender, not an outsider. It has won one World Cup and four European Championships, and that record is why its trip to Atlanta carries real weight before a ball is kicked. Lamine Yamal gives the squad a teenage star, while Rodri gives it a proven midfield anchor.
The tournament path is simple on paper. Beat Cape Verde first, then keep moving toward New Jersey and the final at MetLife Stadium. The cleaner route, though, is being played against a political backdrop that has pushed Spain and the United States into open dispute on defense spending, Iran, Gaza, immigration and green energy.
Trump and Sánchez clash
The fight sharpened last year when the Spanish government refused to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP and kept it at 2.1 percent of GDP instead. Trump called Spain “a laggard” and added, “Maybe you should throw them out of NATO, frankly,” after Sánchez resisted the target.
Sánchez answered that a 5 percent goal would mean “eliminating unemployment, sickness and maternity benefits, reducing all pensions by 40 percent, or cutting state investment in education by half.” He also called the U.S. attacks on Iran “unjustified and dangerous.” That split now sits behind Spain’s tournament run, turning each match into something larger than a simple sports assignment.
Spain and the U.S. have also clashed over Gaza. In 2024, Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, recognized the state of Palestine, and the Sánchez government was the first in the EU to accuse Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration of genocide. Trump later threatened to cut off all trade ties with Spain, then told the New York Post in March, “We have a lot of winners, but Spain is a loser,”. Spain begins the World Cup with elite credentials and a political fight that is not going away when the group stage starts.
