Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, we go through every group in the expanded 48-country field and examine the teams, highlight the most recent odds, and make predictions.
Group H is all about World Cup favorites Spain, who should have little trouble starting strongly, with only Uruguay as an established threat. Saudi Arabia has knocked off big teams at the World Cup before, though, and should fight it out for a qualification place. Cape Verde rounds out the group on its World Cup debut.
At most of the best World Cup betting sites, the reigning European champions enter the World Cup as the favorites to win the title for the first time since 2010. The team certainly wants to erase memories of 2022, when it finished second to Japan in the groups and lost to Morocco on penalties in the Round of 16. Luis de la Fuente has brought Spain back to the top of world football since then, with a team absolutely stacked with talent. They’re rightfully the team to beat and should win Group H at a stroll.
Spain did that in qualifying, winning five of six games while scoring 21 goals and conceding just two. For Spain, Lamine Yamal is the key to everything. The 18-year-old has blossomed into one of football’s best players and produced another great season for Barcelona. A hamstring injury is a concern, but Spain can afford to let Yamal ease into the tournament because of its talent elsewhere. Pedri and Rodri form an elite midfield duo, Mikel Oyarzabal has been a goal machine for Spain of late, and Nico Williams and Dani Almo are capable of individual brilliance.
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Uruguay should be the closest competitor to Spain in Group H, but the South American side hasn’t inspired much confidence in its chances of making it any sort of real fight. Gone are the days of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani providing elite forward play for Uruguay, which now lacks firepower. That was evident in the qualifiers, as Uruguay struggled down the stretch and ended up fourth.
Manager Marcelo Bielsa is under big pressure to prove that his intense, and to some, abrasive, coaching style can produce results. He’ll rely heavily on Real Madrid star Federico Valverde to power the midfield, from defensive duties to creation. A lot of Uruguay’s starting XI is yet to be set. Former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunes led the team in scoring in the qualifiers but endured a poor first year with Al Hilal. Uruguay needs him to find form if they want more than a quick exit in the knockout stage.
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Saudi Arabia’s stunning Argentina in the 2022 tournament will go down as one of the all-time World Cup moments. But Green Falcons are looking for more consistent success on the world stage, having failed to advance past the group stage in their last five World Cup appearances. That desire was evident when Saudi Arabia fired coach Herve Renard just two months before the start of the World Cup, handing the team over to Georgios Donis.
While bold, it made sense after a disappointing qualifying campaign in which Saudi Arabia needed the fourth stage to finally secure a spot. A 4-0 defeat to Egypt and a 2-1 loss to Serbia in friendlies further highlighted Saudi Arabia’s potential struggles against higher-quality opponents. With Spain likely untouchable, Saudi Arabia needs to take care of business against Cape Verde and steal a result against Uruguay to stand a chance of moving on.
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Cape Verde is making history at the 2026 tournament as one of four teams making their first-ever appearance. The team won 7 of 10 qualifying games and beat out favorites Cameroon to earn the top spot in the group. While Cape Verde lacks the talent to compete with the other teams in its group, it can rely on the squad’s experience and the consistency brought by coach Pedro “Bubista” Brito, who has led them since 2020.
Ryan Mendes, the nation’s all-time leading scorer and formerly of Nottingham Forest, and Dailon Livramento will lead Cape Verde’s attack. Other notable players include 39-year-old goalie Vozinha and Shamrock Rovers center back Roberto Lopes. Cape Verde is playing with house money at the World Cup, and a few spirited performances and goals should be considered a good result.
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No prizes for guessing our pick for Group H. Spain are not only the tournament co-favorites, but have only Uruguay as a real challenge. With the Uruguay came coming last, Spain can also ease the burden on Yamal before unleashing him for the final match. Uruguay is a solid team, but too inconsistent to make the reigning European champion sweat.
Uruguay will want convincing showings in its other two group games to show they can make noise in the knockout stage. While they should make easy work of Cape Verde, we can see Saudi Arabia earning a draw to help earn itself a third-place qualification spot.
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Odds are courtesy of BetMGM and accurate at the time of writing.
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