Group H of the 2026 World Cup has Spain, the reigning European champions, as the main favorite to qualify first, with Uruguay, which must also advance, but with doubts surrounding its coach, Marcelo Bielsa, while Saudi Arabia hopes to repeat its best World Cup result and debutants Cape Verde is brimming with hope.
On June 15, Group H of the World Cup will get underway with the Spanish national team on its way to its second star, 16 years after the first, achieved at the World Cup in South Africa.
La Roja begins the road to the second star
The reigning European champions come into the tournament as one of the favorites.
Neither the coach, Luis de la Fuente, nor the players shy away from this word and assume the weight it entails.
Spain’s star performers during the European Championship will not be at their physical best.
Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams ended the season with their respective clubs with muscle injuries, making them doubtful for the opener against Cape Verde.
While Rodrigo Hernandez, Golden Ball winner after the continental tournament, has not regained his excellent level after a knee injury months later.
Spain should have no problem moving forward
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A debut that could mark the course of Spain in the tournament, although losing in the opener is no longer a reason for not lifting the trophy.
At South Africa 2010, the 1-0 win over Switzerland was the start of the road to the title.
While in the last World Cup, Argentina was champion after losing 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in the first matchday.
Spain will debut against Cape Verde, a team that is making its debut in the World Cup.
The third country with the smallest population -530,000- to do so after Iceland -in 2018- and Curaçao, which will also be making its debut in the major international tournament this 2026 (Filed as: Group H World Cup 2026).
Logan Costa (Villarreal), Cape Verde’s most valuable player
100% of its players play outside their country, with Logan Costa, at Villarreal, as the only player in the Spanish league.
And the most valuable according to Transfermarkt – €18 million – despite the defender being sidelined for ten months this season with a serious knee injury.
Despite having left Cameroon by the wayside in the qualification process, Cape Verde is not looking forward to the tournament.
And with the illusion of being one of the best eight – out of 12 – third to be in the new round of sixteen.
The other opening match of Group H will feature Uruguay and their doubts about Marcelo Bielsa’s project.
He will arrive at the event after three years at the helm of the Celeste.
Under his leadership, the team achieved impressive results in the South American qualifiers.
Like the victories against Brazil -the first in more than two decades- and against Argentina in Buenos Aires, an unprecedented triumph for the Uruguayans in this competition.
The national team closed the qualifying phase in fourth place with 28 points (Filed as: Group H World Cup 2026).
Uruguay, irregular and with doubts
However, the recent track record has been marked by a remarkable irregularity.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, Uruguay only managed one victory in 90 minutes of the twelve matches played between Copa América and qualifiers.
In addition, they will enter the tournament on a four-game winless streak.
Including a resounding 5-1 loss to the United States in a preparatory friendly.
Bielsa’s cycle has also been surrounded by controversy off the field.
Luis Suarez’s international retirement caused a major shake-up after his public criticism of the coach, whom he accused of maintaining a distant relationship with the players.
This was compounded by specific episodes with players such as Agustín Canobbio and the surprising exclusion of fullback Nahitan Nández from the World Cup.
One of the men with the most participation during the qualifying phase.
Despite this, Uruguay maintains a high-level base led by Fede Valverde and backed by key players.
Like Ronald Araujo, José María Giménez, Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mathías Olivera and Giorgian de Arrascaeta, pending the progress of his injury.
In attack, Darwin Núñez, Rodrigo Aguirre and Federico Viñas will be responsible for scoring goals (Filed under: Group H World Cup 2026).
Saudi Arabia inspired by the memory of 1994
Saudi Arabia completes Group H with the great objective of repeating the success they achieved at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
In which they achieved their best result ever in the tournament, reaching the round of 16.
They lost 2-1 to the Netherlands, beat Morocco 2-1 and defeated Belgium 1-0 to qualify as group runners-up for the round of 16, where they lost 3-1 to Sweden.
Now, 32 years later, it is looking for its major investment in soccer, with Cristiano Ronaldo as its flagship player, to pay off at the World Cup.
However, despite having international stars in their domestic competition, their local players have failed to make the leap to the big leagues.
Only two of the 26 called-up players play outside Saudi Arabia – Saad Abdulhamid, a right back for Lens, and Marwan Al-Sahafi, a left winger for Antwerp.
The country of the Arabian Peninsula hopes to continue taking steps forward in its soccer development on the road to what will be, in 2034, its World Cup as host (Filed under: Group H World Cup 2026).
With information from EFE
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