2026 FIFA World Cup Group H
FIFA World Cup group
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Group H of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is taking place from June 15 to 26, 2026.[1] The group consists of Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay. The top two teams, possibly along with the third-placed team, will advance to the round of 32.[2]
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings[3][4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025[nb 1] | June 2026 | |||||||||
| H1 |  Spain | 1 | UEFA | UEFA Group E winner | November 18, 2025 | 17th | 2022 | Winner (2010) | 1 | 2 |
| H2 |  Cape Verde | 4 | CAF | CAF Group D winner | October 13, 2025 | 1st | — | — | 68 | 67 |
| H3 |  Saudi Arabia | 3 | AFC | AFC fourth round Group B winner | October 14, 2025 | 7th | 2022 | Round of 16 (1994) | 60 | 61 |
| H4 |  Uruguay | 2 | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL round robin fourth place | September 4, 2025 | 15th | 2022 | Winner (1930, 1950) | 16 | 16 |
Notes
- The rankings of November 2025 were used for seeding for the final draw.[5]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Position will qualify for: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Uruguay |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Cape Verde |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 |
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
In the round of 32:[2]
- The winner of Group H will advance to play the runner-up of Group J.
- The runner-up of Group H will advance to play the winner of Group J.
- The third-placed team of Group H might advance to play the winner of Group A, Group G, Group I, or Group L (if one of the eight best third-placed teams from the group stage).
Matches
All times listed are local.[1]
Spain vs Cape Verde
The teams had never met before. The fixture marked Cape Verde's debut at the FIFA World Cup. The country was the third-smallest by population to qualify for the tournament, before Curaçao achieved qualification, also in 2026.
In the first half Spain's Ferran Torres hit the bar with a shot from close range after a header back from Marc Cucurella on the left. In the second half Mikel Oyarzabal had a shot blocked by Pico.[6] Late on Diney almost put Cape Verde into the lead when he headed a corner straight at Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon with the game finishing 0–0 and producing one of the biggest shocks of the World Cup.[7][8]
          Spain[9]
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     Cape Verde[9]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[9]
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Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay
The teams had previously faced each other thrice, most recently in Uruguay's 1–0 win at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[11]
In the 41st minute, Saudi Arabia went in front, Hassan Al-Tambakti's header from a corner on the right was parried out by Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera where Abdulelah Al-Amri finished the rebound with his right foot to the net from close range. With ten minutes to go, Maximiliano Araújo scored for Uruguay with a shot from the left after Mohammed Al-Owais had initially made a save to make it 1–1, which also became the final result of the affair.[12]
| Saudi Arabia | 1–1 | Uruguay |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 2] |
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     Saudi Arabia[13]
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     Uruguay[13]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[13]
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Spain vs Saudi Arabia
Both teams have met three times, including their first encounter in Spain's 1–0 group stage victory at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[14] Spain won all matches, most recently a 5–0 friendly in 2012.[15]
The fixture was Saudi Arabia's worst defeat at the World Cup since their 5−0 loss to hosts Russia in 2018, and their third-largest defeat in tournament history, tied with their 4–0 losses against hosts France in 1998 and Ukraine in 2006. Additionally, this marked the third-largest defeat suffered by an Arab team during the tournament's group stage, following Qatar's 6–0 defeat against Canada and Tunisia's 5–1 loss to Sweden.
| Spain | 4–0 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 3] |
Spain[16]
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     Saudi Arabia[16]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[16]
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Uruguay vs Cape Verde
The two teams had never met before.
  Uruguay[17]
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     Cape Verde[17]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[17]
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Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia
The two teams have never met before.
| Cape Verde | Match 65 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| [Report 5] |
     Cape Verde
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Saudi Arabia
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Assistant referees:
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Uruguay vs Spain
The teams have previously met ten times, including twice in the World Cup: a 2–2 final round draw in 1950 and a 0–0 group stage draw in 1990.[18] Their latest encounter was Spain's 2–1 group stage victory at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup to keep their unbeaten head to head record.[19]
This will be the only match in Group H held outside of the United States.
| Uruguay | Match 66 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| [Report 6] |
    Uruguay
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     Spain
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Assistant referees:
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Discipline
The team conduct ("fair play") score will be used as a tiebreaker if the head-to-head and overall records of teams are tied. It will also be used as a tiebreaker for the third-place ranking between groups if the overall records of teams are tied. The score will be calculated based on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches as follows:[2]
- yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions can be applied to a player or team official in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Score | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Spain |
1 | −1 | |||||||||||
| Uruguay |
2 | −2 | |||||||||||
| Cape Verde |
1 | 2 | −3 | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia |
1 | 2 | −3 | ||||||||||