🤔 Spain won... but failed to convince against Uruguay | OneFootball

Spain beat Uruguay 1-0 thanks to a goal from Álex Baena and qualified as group winners. La Celeste were eliminated along with Saudi Arabia.

Spain won... but did not convince

Uruguay’s physicality and the tension throughout the match, with La Celeste heading out of the World Cup, overshadowed a poor performance from Spain.

📸 ULISES RUIZ - AFP or licensors

Unai Simón did not inspire much confidence in the air, was barely tested, and made a good save after a Laporte effort towards his own goal. A bittersweet match for him.

On the other hand, Laporte and, above all, Pau Cubarsí were the best players for La Roja. The Barcelona centre-back’s level was outstanding and made him the public’s 'MVP' in Spain.

📸 CARL DE SOUZA - AFP or licensors

After that, Cucurella did not have a good game and struggled against Canobbio, while on the right flank Marcos Llorente was flawless defensively and offered little in attack. He more than made up for that with his assist for Baena to make it 0-1.

📸 ULISES RUIZ - AFP or licensors

Spain’s midfield raised the most doubts. It was not a good game at all from Rodri, Pedri and Mikel Merino. In fact, Dani Olmo, despite being wasteful in front of goal with his only chance, improved De La Fuente’s side a lot.

📸 ALFREDO ESTRELLA - AFP or licensors

Further forward, Baena was one of the best, Lamine Yamal was dangerous up to a point, and Oyarzabal disappeared again, just as he did against Cape Verde. In fact, had Ferrán Torres scored the 0-2 — he had a very clear chance — the blaugrana forward’s performance would have looked better in less time.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

📸 Florencia Tan Jun - 2026 Getty Images