Uruguay vs Spain | FIFA World Cup 2026 — Group Stage | Preview and Prediction

An underwhelming Uruguay is set to face a high-flying Spanish outfit in their last Group H game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 27 at Guadalajara Stadium in Zapopan, Mexico.

For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.

FIFA WC26 | Group H: URU vs ESP | 05:30 IST, June 27, 2026

Uruguay have really disappointed their fans with two very dismal displays against relatively easier opponents in Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. They ended up drawing both games and are currently on two points after two games, desperate for a win to reach the knockouts. Spain, meanwhile, started their World Cup campaign with a draw against debutants Cape Verde but came to life against Saudi Arabia, thrashing them 4–0 to put one foot in the knockouts.

In their last game, Uruguay came back from a 0–1 deficit against Cape Verde to make it 2–1 before conceding a 60th-minute equaliser to drop two massive points. Kevin Pina opened the scoring for Cabo Verde through a fantastic free kick before Maxi Araújo and Agustín Canobbio helped Uruguay take the lead. However, Cape Verde upped their level yet again to equalise through Hélio Varela. Both teams had a couple of chances to find a winner, but it ended honours even.

Uruguay spurned their chance of winning against Saudi Arabia as well and are now staring at the possibility of group-stage elimination if they lose this game and either Cape Verde or Saudi Arabia win the other fixture.

La Celeste have two players injured and unavailable for the game in Ronald Araújo and Giorgian de Arrascaeta, while Spain have no notable injury issues.

Of the two sides, Spain are definitely the superior team on paper in terms of form and quality. They also rediscovered their goalscoring touch against Saudi Arabia after drawing a blank in their opener against Cape Verde. Uruguay, on the other hand, have struggled in both their games, but more than scoring it’s their defence that has let them down; they conceded first against both Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde and were left scrambling to make a comeback for the rest of the game.

In this encounter, we might witness two contrasting styles of play. While Spain will try to keep the majority of the possession, using their wide forwards and midfielders to attack, Uruguay will look to defend and go more direct, with their pacy forwards looking to run behind the Spanish defence and catch them on the counter. All in all, we anticipate a comfortable win for La Roja and an early flight home for Marcelo Bielsa and Co.

Score Prediction: Uruguay 1–3 Spain
Venue: Guadalajara Stadium, Zapopan, Mexico