World Cup Previews: Group H
Now THIS is a proper World Cup group. We’ve got a tournament debutant, the first ever World Cup winners, the favourites to lift this year’s trophy, and Saudi Arabia. Well, they can’t all be perfect. Spain will roll into this group full of confidence with the Euros win under their belt, and it’s up to the rest of them to do England a favour and knock them out before we have to play them… please, lads? For us?
Cape Verde
Qualifying
Ladies and gentleman, for the first time ever, Cape Verde are playing at the World Cup finals! It’s an incredible achievement for such a small nation, particularly as they have to go through the notoriously tricky African qualification system, and were stuck in a group with the much more significant footballing nation of Cameroon.
Despite managing to lose to Mauritius, Cape Verde avoided any other defeats and took home 7 wins to top their qualifying group and book their place in North America for the summer. They have a cobbled together squad of players playing all across the world, from those playing in close-by Portugal, to Ireland, Finland, Bulgaria, and Cyprus, this team have pulled together to achieve something magical. Whatever happens in the tournament, they have already written their names into the history of their nation forever.
One To Watch
Captain Ryan Mendes has 98 caps under his belt, and looks set to his the big 100 at the World Cup starting out wide for his country. Mendes earns his money in the Turkish second tier, having previously played in the UAE, France, and for Nottingham Forest, somehow.
He is a talismanic figure for his nation and, although his powers are waning aged 36, he will still be crucial to their attacking build up if and when they get the chance to play in the opposition’s half. He is likely to be a rotation option due to the depth Cape Verde have out wide, his age, and the face they expect to be chasing the ball in the majority of games. That being said, when he’s on the pitch he’ll be working hard to drive his team forward and create a chance for a teammate, if he isn’t getting on the end of one himself.
Saudi Arabia
Qualifying
Saudi Arabia shocked the world when they beat eventual champions Argentina in 2022, and will have their eye on repeating the feat against Spain this time around.
They had a solid, if unremarkable, qualifying campaign, finishing second in the first stage and then third in the final stage behind Australia and Japan. This meant they missed out on automatic qualifying and were forced to roll the dice in the play-offs.
The Asian play-off system is a mini-group system. Three teams play each other once, and whoever tops the group at the end takes their place at the World Cup, while second place enters yet another play-off. Saudi Arabia were in a group with Indonesia and Iraq, with all the games set to be played at a neutral venue. That neutral venue? Jeddah. In Saudi Arabia. Nothing to see here.
The Saudis topped the group on goals scored to ensure their return to the World Cup for the third successive tournament. Set to host in 2034, this could be a big test for the younger players who are expected to lead that team out to success at a home tournament.
One To Watch
The vast majority of this Saudi team are ageing fast, with most players in their late twenties or early thirties. These lads probably won’t make it to the Saudi World Cup in 2034, but one man who will is 22 year-old attacking midfielder Musab Al-Juwayr, and this could be the tournament where he starts to cement himself as their next big star.
Al-Juwayr plays his club football, as do 25 of the 26 man squad, in his native Saudi Arabia. While most of his teammates are ex top-level players from Europe, Brendan Rogers (yes, that one) has trusted him to be the pin that holds the whole team together in the middle of the park. This responsibility has allowed him to flourish into a devastatingly effective attacking midfielder, producing elite level numbers for passing success and chance creation as well as proving himself to be a solid finisher and capable of causing turnovers by pressing defenders hard. He scored 6 times and provided 11 assists in 31 appearances last season, and is only going to get better with age.
The big question mark around a genuine talent like Al-Juwayr is whether he will be allowed to develop at a higher level and move on to a big European league, or will the Saudi government decide it’s more important to keep their prize asset on home soil, hindering his development. For the sake of the game, just let the boy play.
Spain
Qualifying
Spain look quite good, don’t they? Hot off the back of winning Euro 2024 (apparently, not that I remember that happening) Spain were thrust into a fairly tricky sounding qualifying group. Türkiye have plenty of brand-name talent in their squad, Bulgaria always churn out a stream of semi-decent hard men that can cause you some bother, and Georgia are in the early stages of what could be a golden generation for them, spearheaded by the untouchable Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Could Spain slip up so soon after tasting success? No, obviously.
They won their first five games without conceding a goal before drawing 2-2 with Türkiye on the final day when qualification was already secured and they fielded a rotated side. Maybe it isn’t coming home.
Drawing 1-1 with Iraq in a pre-tournament friendly was just enough to spark hope amongst the other nations fighting for the trophy this summer, but their B team drawing a glorified tracing exercise isn’t exactly the harbinger of doom we’d like it to be.
Spain are the favourites, and it’s easy to see why. It seems like the only thing that can get in their way is themselves.
One To Watch
There were genuinely about 20 players I could’ve selected to keep an eye out for this summer, most of them products of the Barcelona academy, but I haven’t gone for a Barca player. For the first time in history, there are no Real Madrid players in the Spain squad, so it won’t be any of them either.
I’ve instead gone for the man likely to start up front for Spain all tournament, Real Sociedad’s Mikel Oyarzabal. Oyarzabal broke English hearts in 2024 with his goal in the final of the Euros, and I think there’s a decent chance he takes home the golden boot in this summer’s World Cup, too. He helped guide Sociedad to a long-awaited trophy this season as they won the Copa del Ray, and a World Cup victory would be the cherry on top of the icing on top of the massive cake that is Mikel Oyarzabal’s football career.
He’s an absurdly good finisher, often scoring from very few, or even just his first, attempts. He fits perfectly into this Spain system too, able to drop deep and play killer balls to facilitate the blistering pace of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams either side of him. 25 goals in 53 Spain appearances, and 6 in 6 in qualifying, Oyarzabal is the glue that brings all of their superstars together. The prospect of having to face them is terrifying.
Uruguay
Qualifying
Just one point separated 2nd and 6th in South American qualifying as Argentina ran away with it. Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay were one of the chasing pack, their unusually solid defence making up for a fairly lacklustre attacking performance as the two-time winners qualified for yet another World Cup.
They lack the swashbuckling style of a typical Bielsa side, probably symptomatic of the fact he has significantly less time to train with them than he would with his club teams. They did keep 10 clean sheets in their 18 games, and beat Brazil and Argentina along the way, so they’re not to be taken lightly. Without their big superstar names of the past 20 years, can they pull together as a unit and produce another huge performance on the biggest stage? If anyone can mastermind it it’s probably Bielsa.
One To Watch
Their main man, and the man that epitomises Bielsa’s all-action style, is Fede Valverde. A stalwart in Real Madrid’s side, Valverde has often found himself filling in at right back for his club. That won’t happen here. Valverde will use every last drop of his seemingly endless energy to control and dominate the midfield, allowing very little past him and immediately progressing the ball up the pitch to mount an attack.
Valverde embodies his nation’s spirit, and will be pivotal in both their offensive and defensive play all summer. You don’t play nearly 400 games for Real by being average.
Prediction
1. Spain
2. Uruguay
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Cape Verde
I think this one is pretty straightforward.
Spain are the tournament favourites for a reason, and they’re by far the best team in this group. They could field their second string side and still win it, and they’ll probably rest Yamal and Williams for at least one of the games as they both return to full fitness.
Uruguay will have enough to see off Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia with relative ease, and the Saudi side will prove too strong for the debutants to handle. Cape Verde will give a solid account of themselves, but qualifying is as far as they can hope to go for now.
Saudi Arabia could easily find themselves in the knockouts as a best-placed 3rd placed team with Cape Verde to play, and don’t they deserve it?