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Who: Spain vs Saudi Arabia
What: FIFA World Cup 2026 Group H match
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
When: Sunday, 12pm local time (16:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Spain return to Atlanta on Sunday, hoping to move on from the shock goalless draw with debutants Cape Verde and respond with a much-improved display against Saudi Arabia.
The pre-tournament favourites are no longer the bookmakers’ top choice to lift the title in North America, with questions raised about their worrying lack of attacking edge.
The reigning European champions – who have one of the world’s most exciting players in Lamine Yamal – will be up against a solid Saudi Arabia side, which held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw in their opener.
After a poor attacking performance against Cape Verde, where Spain failed to score despite taking 27 shots, the 2010 champions are in dire need of better finishing.
Their star winger, Yamal, is often among the goals or assists, but his minutes at the 2026 World Cup have been limited as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
The 18-year-old was named on the bench and came on only in the 71st minute. With Spain needing a World Cup reset, many thought Yamal would be back in the starting lineup, but he said that will not be the case just yet.
“I’m fine, I’m feeling good, but it’s too soon, it’s unnecessary; I’m still settling in – it’s not the right time to play a full match yet – but I can play for as many minutes as the manager wants,” Yamal told Spanish public television TVE on Friday.
“I want to be on the pitch; at the end of the day, even if you know you can’t play for 90 minutes, you always want to get out there and help the team.”
This new golden generation of Yamal, Pedri, Ferran Torres and others is hoping to inspire Spain to their second World Cup title, following back-to-back round-of-16 exits in recent editions.
While Spain’s confidence might be low after the first game, the mood in the Saudi camp is great.
Their 1-1 draw with former world champions Uruguay was a “booster for our psychology”, said coach Georgios Donis, who only took over the team two months before the World Cup.
Despite having limited time with the squad, Donis’s Saudi Arabia did well to walk away with a point, keeping themselves alive in the hunt for the knockouts.
After the unexpected result against Cape Verde, Spain will not be taking Saudi Arabia lightly. After all, the Saudis caused a major surprise in the 2022 World Cup’s opening round, defeating eventual champions Argentina.
The Asian giants, making their seventh appearance in North America, registered their best result in 1994 with a run to the round of 16.
Stats provider Opta’s supercomputer has handed Spain a whopping 86.7 percent probability of winning against Saudi Arabia, who have a mere 4.3 percent chance of winning. There is a 9 percent probability of a draw.
Initially, Spain were the frontrunners for the World Cup triumph, but after their opening match goalless draw, they have slipped to fourth in Opta’s prediction list, with France now the most favourite (15.43 percent).
Now, Spain have a 12.04 percent probability of winning the tournament.
Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Cape Verde are in Group H.
They all have a point each, with Uruguay on top due to the highest team conduct score. Saudi Arabia are second, Spain are third, and Cape Verde are bottom.
All of them have an equal chance of advancing to the knockouts, leaving the group wide open.
The top two teams from each of the 12 groups – along with the eight best third-placed teams – proceed to the next phase, the round of 32, which has been introduced at the World Cup for the first time.
(Last five games, latest first)
Spain: D-W-D-D-W
Saudi Arabia: D-D-W-L-L
Spain have a better record than Saudi Arabia in the last five matches.
Spain drew 0-0 with Cape Verde in their first World Cup game, beat Peru 3-1 and drew 1-1 with Iraq in June friendlies. They also drew 0-0 with Egypt and beat Serbia 3-0 in March.
Saudi Arabia held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw in their tournament opener, played a goalless draw with Senegal and beat Puerto Rico 3-0 in June friendlies. They lost to Ecuador 2-1 in a May friendly and were defeated 2-1 by Serbia in a March friendly.
They have met three times, with Spain winning each time. Their last meeting dates back to September 2012 when Spain thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0.
Sunday’s match will be only the second time Spain and Saudi Arabia meet at the World Cup – their first face-off, at the 2006 edition, ended in a 1-0 group-stage victory for Spain.
(4-3-3): Simon; Llorente, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Ruiz, Rodri, Pedri; Ferran, Olmo, Gavi
(4-4-2): Al Owais; Abdulhamid, Al Amri, Al Tambakti, Al-Harbi; Al Shamat, Kanno, Akhaibari, Al-Dawsari; Al-Buraikan, Al-Juwayr
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