World Cup preview: Group H – can anybody stop Spain? | OneFootball

The World Cup is almost upon us. From June 11 til July 19, 48 countries will fight to become World Champions in the tournament held in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

The teams in the tournament have already been drawn into 12 separate groups. Group H contains Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, with the reigning European champions undoubtedly the headline attraction.

Here’s a preview of the teams hoping to make it out of Group F:

Spain

After triumphing at the 2024 Euros two summers ago, Spain will arrive at the 2026 World Cup as the favourites for the entire competition. The Spanish side possess depth, experience, quality, identity and style. They lack nothing.

When it comes to talent, there is an embarrassment of riches available to Luis de la Fuente. Perhaps all that is left to be desired for the coach is a truly world class centre forward. Despite that, Spain should comfortably cruise through their group. They will be expecting to make a deep run in the tournament for the first time since their 2010 triumph.

Player to watch: Lamine Yamal – who else? The teenage prodigy takes to football’s greatest stage for the first time.

Stage of elimination prediction: Final

Uruguay

Uruguay arrive at the tournament in a peculiar position. It will be their first World Cup without a past generation of stars – the likes of Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Diego Godin. They have also been plagued by inconsistency across the past couple of years.

Nevertheless, Uruguay will bring a very strong defence and midfield to the tournament, with some intriguing options up front. It will be their first World Cup under Marcelo Bielsa, the enigmatic coach who is adored by many in the game. Bielsa is an intense manager and will be desperate to do well this summer.

Player to watch: Federico Valverde – one of Real Madrid’s leaders, the midfielder is simply a brilliant footballer and will be central to any success that Uruguay achieve.

Stage of elimination prediction: Round of 16 

Saudi Arabia

Set to be the hosts of the 2034 World Cup, Saudi Arabia will be keen to perform well this summer. They have failed to make it out of the group stage on each of their last five appearances in the tournament.

Despite that, football has continued to grow in Saudi Arabia, particularly with the Saudi Pro League attracting big stars. The country will hope that the development of their domestic league will bring improvements to their national team. Impressively, every member apart from one of their 26-man squad is currently playing in the Saudi Pro League.

Player to watch: Musab Al-Juwayr – the young playmaker is emerging as a future star.

Stage of elimination prediction: Group stage

Cape Verde

A World Cup debutant, just competing at the tournament is already an overwhelming success for Cape Verde. A small collection of islands off the west coast of Africa, the nation has a population of under half a million people. Nevertheless, they have defied the odds by qualifying for football’s biggest tournament.

Unfortunately, Cape Verde are likely to find themselves out of their depth once the tournament kicks off. They simply do not have the options or quality of other nations. If they are able to claim any result at all during the competition, it would be a wild success.

Player to watch: Ryan Mendes – captain, all-time leading appearance maker and all-time leading scorer, if anyone deserves a special moment at the World Cup it is the 36-year-old.

Stage of elimination prediction: Group stage