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Who: Spain vs Saudi Arabia
Content: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group H matches
Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Date and time: Sunday, 12pm local time (16:00 GMT)
How to follow: Get everything ready on Al Jazeera Sports from 13:00 GMT ahead of the live text commentary stream.
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Spain returns to Atlanta on Sunday hoping to bounce back from a shocking goalless draw with debutant Cape Verde and respond with a much-improved performance against Saudi Arabia.
The pre-tournament favorites are no longer the bookmakers’ top choice to win the title in North America, and a worrying lack of attacking power has raised questions.
The reigning European champions, who boast one of the most exciting players in the world in Lamine Yamal, will face a solid Saudi Arabia side who held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw in their opening match.
Will Yamal play against Saudi Arabia?
Against Cape Verde, Spain had a poor attacking performance despite having 27 shots, and the 2010 champions are in dire need of better finishing.
Their star winger Yamal is frequently credited with goals and assists, but his playing time at the 2026 World Cup will be limited as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
The 18-year-old was on the bench and only appeared in the 71st minute. Many thought Yamal would return to the starting XI as Spain needed a World Cup reset, but he said that would not be the case yet.
“I’m fine, I feel good, but it’s premature and unnecessary. I’m still getting used to it. It’s not the right time for me to play the full game yet, but I can play as many minutes as the coach wants,” Yamal told Spanish public television TVE on Friday.
“I want to be on the pitch. At the end of the day, even if I know I can’t play 90 minutes, I always want to be on the pitch and help the team.”
This new golden generation of Yamal, Pedri and Ferran Torres will be hoping to inspire Spain to a second World Cup victory after back-to-back round-of-16 exits in recent tournaments.
Saudi Arabia is confident
Spain’s confidence may be low after the first match, but the atmosphere in the Saudi camp is great.
The 1-1 draw with former world champions Uruguay “stimulated our psychology,” said coach Georgios Donis, who took over the team two months before the World Cup.
Despite having limited playing time for the team, Donis’s Saudi Arabia looked to survive by picking up points to advance.
Spain will not take Saudi Arabia lightly after the disappointing result against Cape Verde. After all, Saudi Arabia pulled off a big surprise in the opening game of the 2022 World Cup, defeating eventual champions Argentina.
This will be the Asian giants’ seventh appearance in North America, and their best result was in 1994, when they reached the last 16.
Spain vs Saudi Arabia predictions
Statistics provider Opta’s supercomputer gave Spain a staggering 86.7 percent chance of winning against Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s probability of winning is only 4.3 percent. The probability of a draw is 9%.
Spain were initially the favorites to win the World Cup, but after a goalless draw in the first game, they have fallen to fourth place on Opta’s prediction list, with France now the favorites (15.43 per cent).
Spain currently has a 12.04 percent chance of winning the tournament.
Spain vs Saudi Arabia: Live stream, kickoff time
Spain: LA1, PLAY, DAZN Mundial (6pm CET) Saudi Arabia: beIN SPORTS MAX 5, beIN SPORTS 4K HDR, beIN SPORTS MAX 1, TOD, beIN SPORTS MAX 3, beIN CONNECT (7pm Arabian Standard Time) UK: BBC One, BBC iPlayer, ITVX (5pm BST) US: Universo, FOX, FOX 1, Telemundo App, Telemundo Network, Peacock (noon ET)
How will the group stage be played?
Group H includes Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Cape Verde.
All teams earned one point each, with Uruguay coming out on top with the highest team behavior score. Saudi Arabia is second, Spain is third, and Cape Verde is last.
Everyone has an equal chance to advance to the finals, leaving a wide gap within the group.
The top two teams in each of the 12 groups and the top eight teams in third place advance to the next stage, the Round of 32, which was first introduced at the World Cup.
form guide
(Last 5 games, newest first)
Spain: DWDDW
Saudi Arabia: DDWLL
Spain has a better record than Saudi Arabia in the last five games.
Spain drew 0-0 with Cape Verde in their first World Cup match, defeated Peru 3-1 in a friendly in June, and drew 1-1 with Iraq. In March, they drew 0-0 with Egypt and won 3-0 against Serbia.
Saudi Arabia held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw in the tournament opener, played a goalless draw with Senegal, and defeated Puerto Rico 3-0 in a friendly in June. They lost to Ecuador 2-1 in a friendly match in May, and lost to Serbia 2-1 in a friendly match in March.
Spain vs Saudi Arabia: Head-to-head
The two sides have played three times so far, with Spain winning each time. The last meeting between the two sides was in September 2012, when Spain defeated Saudi Arabia 5-0.
Sunday’s match will be the second time Spain and Saudi Arabia will meet at the World Cup. The first match at the 2006 tournament ended in a 1-0 victory for Spain in the group stage.
Spain’s expected lineup
(4-3-3): Simon. Llorente, Kvarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Luis, Rodri, Pedri. Ferran, Olmo, Gavi
Saudi Arabia’s expected lineup
(4-4-2): Al Owais. Abdulhamid, Al-Amri, Al-Tambakti, Al-Harbi. Al-Shamat, Kanno, Akaibari, Al-Dawsari. Al Buraikan, Al Juwail
