Every four years we are treated to the best tournament in soccer, and it’s always filled with star names who reach their fullest potential when the lights are the brightest. This year’s tournament will be no different, and it’s as much of a star-studded affair as we could hope for. Below I will break down Group H of the group stage that features Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
Group H Predictions
It makes sense that Spain, the outright favorites to win the tournament, are heavy favorites to win Group H. They are also the highest ranked team by a mile in the group in terms of the FIFA World Rankings, where they sit at #2 in the world. Uruguay are next at #17, followed by Saudi Arabia at #61 and Cape Verde at #69.
Spain and Uruguay should have no problem getting out of this group. There is a huge gap in quality between those two countries and the other two. They are such heavy favorites to come first and second respectively, that we had to get creative for this bet.
Saudi Arabia made some waves in the 2022 World Cup, defeating eventual winners Argentina in the first group stage game. Unfortunately for them, losses to Poland and Mexico meant they finished last in their group. Even still this is a group that competed well, and finished in top spot of their AFC qualifying group to make the 2026 tournament. I’m going with them to finish third in this group.
Then, we have Cape Verde, who have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history. Although it’s a huge success even getting to the tournament, I doubt they will be able to do much against three teams who are far more experienced.
Prediction: Group H Exact Finish- Spain – 1st / Uruguay – 2nd / Saudi Arabia – 3rd / Cape Verde – 4th (+180)
Dark Horse
Uruguay is the dark horse in this group, and have the potential to make a decent run in this tournament. They narrowly missed out in 2022, finishing level on points with South Korea in Group H, but ultimately finishing in third. In 2018, they made it all the way to the quarter-finals before they met up with eventual champions France. It was a Round of 16 appearance back in 2014, as they fell short to Colombia. This team has a great core of young players, as the old generation has retired. The likes of Federico Valverde, Ronald Araújo, Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur and Darwin Nunez have all played at the highest level of club competition in the last few years. They are in a tie for 12th in terms of the lowest odds to win it all on DraftKings Sportsbook at +5000.
Top Goal Scorer
I am going with Spain’s top choice striker as my best pick to get a run at the Golden Boot from this group. On DraftKings Sportsbook, he is listed at +1800, tied with his teammate Lamine Yamal for the fifth-lowest odds. Oyarzabal was the joint top scorer for Spain in the UEFA qualifying for this tournament alongside Mikel Merino, as they both scored six goals in six games. In this case, I’ll take the guy playing up top as forwards usually get the most chances, especially when you have wingers such as Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal. Oyarzabal netted 15 times in La Liga this season for Real Sociedad.
