The Spaniards won narrowly against the Uruguayans to secure first place, while the Cape Verdeans were held to a 0 against the Arabs, thus achieving a historic advancement to the next phase
The Argentine National Team now has a confirmed opponent in the Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. In a conclusion of the Group H with few emotions in the game, but significant consequences, thanks to Spain beating Uruguay 1-0, Cape Verde qualified for the Round of 32 after drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia, and will now face the Albiceleste.
Uruguay 0-1 Spain
The match started extremely evenly, with a slightly superior Spain, although as time went on, Uruguay would also have its moments in the spotlight. Beyond some approaches, there would be no notable situations throughout the first half until the final minutes. At 41, Marcos Llorente would cross for Álex Baena, who would shoot towards Fernando Muslera, however, he would fail to contain a ball that seemed easy, which would slowly enter his goal.
After the blunder that led to the rival's goal, in the second half Marcelo Bielsa would make his moves and decide to replace his goalkeeper, bringing in Sergio Rochet. Then, the Loco would also take out the team captain, Federico Valverde, substituting him for Federico Viñas.
Although not much would happen, what would differentiate the second half from the initial 45 minutes would be the clumsy play filled with fouls that would generate yellow cards on both sides.
In the midst of such sporting parity and despite having taken the initiative quite a while ago, only at 85, the Charrúas would get a chance to reduce the deficit with a long-range shot from Nicolás De La Cruz. In response, La Roja would be close to extending the lead thanks to a ball from Ferran Torres that hit the top of the crossbar.
At the end, with the frustration of being on the verge of elimination, Agustín Canobbio would see red for a harsh tackle on Pau Cubarsí, marking the last incident for Uruguay in this disappointing World Cup.
Similar to the other match, there would be a protagonist with little effectiveness (Cape Verde), who would occasionally suffer from the sparks of their opponent, with goal actions counted on one hand. However, unlike the Uruguay-Spain match, the first half would pass without much to remember, showing a much scarcer and more physical football.
In the second half, the Africans would have the first promising attempt at 49 with a long shot from Kevin Pina that would go just past the left corner of goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais.
Beyond this play, the match would become stagnant again for several minutes, even after the second cooling break, when the islanders would get a new opportunity to take the lead: at 74, Al Owais would deny a dangerous one-on-one to Laros Duarte.
Finally, after a Nuno Da Costa shot that was barely deflected which would be disallowed for offside anyway, the match would end as it began, a very boring 0-0, in which it seemed neither team wanted to win, but which defined the unexpected and historic qualification of debutant Cape Verde.
How Group H ended up
With these results, Spain finished first with 7 points and will face the second of Group J (currently Austria) in the Round of 32 next Thursday, July 2 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Cape Verde achieved the most significant sporting achievement in its short history by advancing to the next phase, finishing second with just 3 points, all from draws. They will now face the Argentine National Team on Friday, July 3 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Further down, Uruguay ended a terrible World Cup in third place with 2 miserable points, thus signing one of their worst performances in the tournament's history. Finally, with the same score (2), but with a worse goal difference (-1 to -4), Saudi Arabia would occupy the bottom of the table.
