Spain vs Saudi Arabia: World Cup 2026 – Yamal, prediction, watch, kickoff

The 2026 World Cup volition person 13 antithetic kickoff times. You tin usage the Al Jazeera Sport widget to find retired precisely erstwhile your squad is playing successful your section time.

Who: Spain vs Saudi Arabia
What: FIFA World Cup 2026 Group H match
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
When: Sunday, 12pm section clip (16:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll person each the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:00 GMT successful beforehand of our unrecorded substance commentary stream.

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Spain instrumentality to Atlanta connected Sunday, hoping to determination connected from the shock goalless draw with debutants Cape Verde and respond with a much-improved show against Saudi Arabia.

The pre-tournament favourites are nary longer the bookmakers’ apical prime to assistance the rubric successful North America, with questions raised astir their worrying deficiency of attacking edge.

The reigning European champions – who person 1 of the world’s astir breathtaking players successful Lamine Yamal – volition beryllium up against a coagulated Saudi Arabia side, which held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw successful their opener.

Will Yamal play against Saudi Arabia?

After a mediocre attacking show against Cape Verde, wherever Spain failed to people contempt taking 27 shots, the 2010 champions are successful dire request of amended finishing.

Their prima winger, Yamal, is often among the goals oregon assists, but his minutes astatine the 2026 World Cup person been constricted arsenic helium recovers from a hamstring injury.

The 18-year-old was named connected the seat and came connected lone successful the 71st minute. With Spain needing a World Cup reset, galore thought Yamal would beryllium backmost successful the starting lineup, but helium said that volition not beryllium the case conscionable yet.

“I’m fine, I’m feeling good, but it’s excessively soon, it’s unnecessary; I’m inactive settling successful – it’s not the close clip to play a afloat lucifer yet – but I tin play for arsenic galore minutes arsenic the manager wants,” Yamal told Spanish nationalist tv TVE connected Friday.

“I privation to beryllium connected the pitch; astatine the extremity of the day, adjacent if you cognize ⁠you can’t play for 90 minutes, you ever privation to get ⁠out determination and assistance the team.”

This caller aureate procreation of Yamal, Pedri, Ferran Torres and others is hoping to animate Spain to their 2nd World Cup title, pursuing back-to-back round-of-16 exits successful caller editions.

Spain’s Lamine Yamal looks dejected aft their goalless gully with Cape Verde [Claudia Greco/Reuters]

Saudi Arabia precocious connected confidence

While Spain’s assurance mightiness beryllium debased aft the archetypal game, the temper successful the Saudi campy is great.

Their 1-1 gully with erstwhile satellite champions Uruguay was a “booster for our psychology”, said manager Georgios ‌Donis, who lone took implicit the squad 2 months earlier the World Cup.

Despite having constricted clip with the squad, Donis’s Saudi Arabia did good to locomotion distant with a point, keeping themselves live successful the hunt for the knockouts.

After the unexpected effect against Cape Verde, Spain volition not beryllium taking Saudi Arabia lightly. After all, the Saudis caused a large surprise successful the 2022 World Cup’s opening round, defeating eventual champions Argentina.

The Asian giants, making their seventh quality successful North America, registered their champion effect successful 1994 with a tally to the circular of 16.

Spain vs Saudi Arabia prediction

Stats supplier Opta’s supercomputer has handed Spain a whopping 86.7 percent probability of winning against Saudi Arabia, who person a specified 4.3 percent accidental of winning. There is simply a 9 percent probability of a draw.

Initially, Spain were the frontrunners for the World Cup triumph, but aft their opening lucifer goalless draw, they person slipped to 4th successful Opta’s prediction list, with France present the astir favourite (15.43 percent).

Now, Spain person a 12.04 percent probability of winning the tournament.

Spain vs Saudi Arabia: Livestream, kickoff time

• Spain: LA1, PLAY, DAZN Mundial (6pm, Central European Summer Time)
• Saudi Arabia: beIN SPORTS MAX 5, beIN SPORTS 4K HDR, beIN SPORTS MAX 1, TOD, beIN SPORTS MAX 3, beIN CONNECT (7 pm, Arabia Standard Time)
• United Kingdom: BBC One, BBC iPlayer, ITVX (5pm, British Summer Time)
• United States: Universo, FOX, FOX One, Telemundo App, Telemundo Network, Peacock (noon, Eastern Daylight Time)

Fans of Saudi Arabia observe aft their squad took the pb against Uruguay astatine Miami Stadium connected June 15 [Alex Slitz/Getty Images/AFP]

How does the radical signifier work?

Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Cape Verde are successful Group H.

They each person a constituent each, with Uruguay connected apical owed to the highest squad behaviour score. Saudi Arabia are second, Spain are third, and Cape Verde are bottom.

All of them person an adjacent accidental of advancing to the knockouts, leaving the radical wide open.

The apical 2 teams from each of the 12 groups – on with the 8 champion third-placed teams – proceed to the adjacent phase, the circular of 32, which has been introduced astatine the World Cup for the archetypal time.

Form guide

(Last 5 games, latest first)

Spain: D-W-D-D-W

Saudi Arabia: D-D-W-L-L

Spain person a amended grounds than Saudi Arabia successful the past 5 matches.

Spain drew 0-0 with Cape Verde successful their archetypal World Cup game, bushed Peru 3-1 and drew 1-1 with Iraq successful June friendlies. They besides drew 0-0 with Egypt and bushed Serbia 3-0 successful March.

Saudi Arabia held Uruguay to a 1-1 gully successful their tourney opener, played a goalless gully with Senegal and bushed Puerto Rico 3-0 successful June friendlies. They mislaid to Ecuador 2-1 successful a May affable and were defeated 2-1 by Serbia successful a March friendly.

Spain vs Saudi Arabia: Head-to-head

They person met 3 times, with Spain winning each time. Their past gathering dates backmost to September 2012 erstwhile Spain thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0.

Sunday’s lucifer volition beryllium lone the 2nd clip Spain and Saudi Arabia conscionable astatine the World Cup – their archetypal face-off, astatine the 2006 edition, ended successful a 1-0 group-stage triumph for Spain.

Spain predicted lineup

(4-3-3): Simon; Llorente, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Ruiz, Rodri, Pedri; Ferran, Olmo, Gavi

Saudi Arabia predicted lineup

(4-4-2): Al Owais; Abdulhamid, Al Amri, Al Tambakti, Al-Harbi; Al Shamat, Kanno, Akhaibari, Al-Dawsari; Al-Buraikan, Al-Juwayr