🇪🇸 Spain’s record against Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde | OneFootball

The composition of Group H for the 2026 World Cup is now official: Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, and the newcomer Cape Verde will test the strength of the Spanish national team in the group stage.

Although the spotlight is on the debut of the Cape Verdean team, Spain will approach the tournament with the precedent of having already faced both Uruguayans and Saudis in previous editions of the World Cup.

36 years later, Spain faces La Celeste

The match against Uruguay is shaping up to be a classic with historical weight. "La Celeste" and "La Roja" have met twice in the World Cup finals, and interestingly, both times the result was a draw. The first encounter took place in the group stage of Brazil 1950, which ended with a 2-2 scoreline.

📸 STAFF

Four decades later, in Italy 1990, the group stage clash ended in a 0-0 draw. The statistic is favorable: Spain has never been defeated by Uruguay in a World Cup.

A positive precedent against Saudi Arabia

Against Saudi Arabia, the record is clearer and more straightforward. There is only one World Cup precedent between the two teams, and it was resolved in favor of the national side. It happened during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

📸 ROBERTO SCHMIDT - 2006 AFP

In the group stage of that tournament, Spain narrowly defeated the Saudis (1-0). That victory was crucial for "La Roja" to finish their group with a perfect record and a solid qualification for the round of 16. Then France ended the dream for a Spanish team that was supposed to "retire" Zidane, as one newspaper headline claimed.

Cape Verde, a debut in every sense

The big news in Group H is the presence of Cape Verde. This will be an unprecedented clash in the history of the World Cup, as the African team is making its tournament debut. The match against Cape Verde presents a vital opportunity to secure three points and pave the way to the next round without having to rely on the more challenging direct encounters.

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

📸 ROBERTO SCHMIDT - 2006 AFP