09/06/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | JUNE 9, 2026

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2026 WORLD CUP Group H Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde S PAIN’S World Cup preparations have been beset by fitness concerns, including to star winger Lamine Yamal, as Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa faces a challenge to his authority before aiming to shock the European champions in Group H. failed to bounce back to his best since suffering an cruciate knee ligament tear in September 2024. Arsenal’s Mikel Merino have also been included by De la Fuente despite missing most of 2026 for their clubs. island nation of less than 500,000 people shocked Cameroon in qualifying and reached the quarter finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2023. Uruguay are hoping that Bielsa can build bridges with his squad to avoid crashing out at the group stage for a second consecutive World Cup.

the hopes of the two-time winners. Saudi Arabia also arrive in the States in a state of flux after Herve Renard was dismissed as coach less than two months before the start of the tournament and replaced by Georgios Donis. Renard inspired a stunning victory over even tual champions Argentina in Qatar four years ago, but still failed to get the oil-rich Gulf nation out of the group stages. The huge investment in bringing star names to the Saudi Pro League is yet to be reflected in an upturn in results for the 2034 World Cup hosts. They have failed to get beyond the last 16 at the last four Asian Cups and last made the knock out stages of the World Cup when the United States hosted the competition 32 years ago.

Even so, La Roja are expected to cruise into the knockout stages as they aim to follow in the footsteps of Spain’s only previous world champi ons, who backed up winning the Euros in 2008 with victory on the global stage two years later in South Africa. Securing top spot in the group is vital for Spain’s chances of success, with second place likely to face holders Argentina in the last 32. Cape Verde appear lambs to the slaughter as their first opponents in Atlanta. But the tiny

Barcelona’s Yamal and Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams will be available for Spain’s open ing two games against tournament debutants Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia, coach Luis de la Fuente said on Sunday. The 18-year-old has given Luis de la Fuente one less concern, with several key members of his Euro 2024-winning squad having endured disrupted seasons. Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or off the back of Spain’s success in Germany two years ago, has

Bielsa will lead a third different nation to the World Cup but his famously exacting demands have caused friction after a bright start to his ten ure. Stinging criticism from the country’s all-time top goalscorer Luis Suarez left Bielsa admitting his “authority was affected” amongst the rest of the dressing room. Without retired strikers Suarez and Edinson Cavani, Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde carries

European champions Spain the team to beat

‘Toxic’ Bielsa chases glory with Uruguay MARCELO BIELSA heads to another World Cup seeking a breakthrough with Uruguay, after a disappointing 2002 campaign in charge of his native Argentina appearance in 2024. Performances, however, have sometimes been inconsistent, exposing tactical and physical limits. The side finished South American

SPAIN have spent the last two years making international football look like a problem someone else has to solve and as the World Cup looms the question for the other 47 teams is blunt enough – who can stop Luis de la Fuente’s red machine? The European champions arrive at the tournament with a record fourth continental title behind them, a dazzling collective identity and the air of a side who have discovered the rarest of tournament ingredients – style with steel. Their Euro 2024 triumph in Germany was not built on one irresistible individual but on a swarm of them. Spain won every match, played fast, direct, fearless football and repeatedly found answers from the bench when matches began asking awkward questions. The final against England told the story neatly. Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal became the 10th Spain player to score at Euro 2024 when he helped to craft and then finished the 86th-minute goal that sealed a 2-1 win. It was Spain’s 15th goal of the tournament, the most by any team at a Euros. At the centre of it all is De la Fuente, once mocked online as “Luis de la Who?” after his appointment in 2023 following more than a decade working in Spain’s youth system. Nearly four years later, the joke has aged about as well as a banana left in a gym bag. De la Fuente’s strength is that this group has not been hastily

spectacularly than Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona winger exploded into global view as a 16-year-old and was an integral part of the Euro 2024 triumph. That launched him into a remarkable 2024-25 season, when he helped Barca to win a La Liga Copa del Rey double and finished close to Paris St Germain’s Ousmane Dembele in the Ballon d’Or voting. This season has been less smooth but still successful, as he was Barcelona’s MVP in their successful La Liga title defence. Osasuna winger Victor Munoz is also expected to be fit for Spain’s opening game in Atlanta, although none travelled to Mexico for Monday’s friendly with Peru and instead remained at their training camp in the United States. De la Fuente has other problems too. Merino has been sidelined for months with a broken foot, Barca attacking midfielder Fermin Lopez will miss the tournament with a similar fracture and Nico Williams has also struggled with groin and hamstring issues. Yet Spain’s great trick has been continuity through disruption. They keep the same shape, tempo and bite whoever plays, retaining their essence without a traditional No. 9 and with attacking threats scattered across the pitch. Their shootout loss to Portugal in last year’s Nations League final was a rare sting. Otherwise, De la Fuente’s Spain have rattled through 33 matches with 28 wins, three draws and two defeats. Spain arrive at the World Cup as favourites alongside France, ahead of England, Brazil and Argentina, according to bookmakers. “I think everyone likes it when people speak well of you, especially given it’s not us who are putting out that message... we’ll accept the compliment,” said De la Fuente.

and a positive but trophyless spell with Chile, in a tenure already marked by renewal and controversy. Appointed in 2023 after Diego Alonso’s departure, the much-travelled 70-year-old coach has driven a generational overhaul at the twice world champions, imposing his trademark high-pressing, high intensity attacking style. Bielsa was tasked with moving Uruguay on from a generation led by the likes of forwards Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez, who guided them to a World Cup semifinal in 2010 and the 2011 Copa America title but could never replicate those achievements. With players such as Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde, Al-Hilal forward Darwin Nunez and Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo, Uruguay quickly

qualifying in fourth place, having defeated powerhouses Brazil and Argentina but drawing with last-placed Chile. Off the pitch, tensions have been stoked. Public criticism from the team’s all-time leading scorer Suarez, now playing for Inter Miami, and internal disagreements have raised questions about squad management and the human cost of Bielsa’s methods. “I’m toxic. Being around me makes people worse,” Bielsa told a press conference after the US game in November when he said he would remain in charge in one of the most tense moments of his tenure. He has since added that his job ends after the World Cup. “Our job ends with the World Cup,” Bielsa said. “It is a miracle in any professional’s sporting career to take part in the World Cup,“ he said. “I will be forever grateful to Uruguay for allowing me to enjoy a competition like the World Cup.” Bielsa left a strong mark on Argentina, guiding an impressive qualifying campaign but carrying the burden of failure at the 2002 World Cup, where his side exited in the group stage despite being among the favourites. In Chile, he helped to transform the national team, returning them to the World Cup in 2010 and laying the foundations for the country’s “golden generation”, but departed before their 2015 and 2016 Copa America triumphs. Uruguay will now seek to prove whether Bielsa’s

recaptured their competitiveness under Bielsa, raising expectations among fans. Early results supported the project, including a Copa America semifinal

assembled. He has worked before with many of the players travelling to North

America, including Rodri, Mikel Merino and Fabian Ruiz, who were part of his success with the U-19 and U-21 sides. Nobody, though, has flourished more

“We’ll have to… put in an almost perfect performance to have a chance of winning,” he continued.

“We have to be aware that there are other teams just as strong as we are.” The World rhythm can survive heat, travel, injuries and expectation in Group H Cup will test whether that

Fuente

Luis de la

demanding approach can turn early impact into cohesion and results on the biggest stage, or repeat a pattern seen throughout his career. The 1930 and 1950 winners open their Group H campaign against Saudi Arabia on June 16 (6am

Bielsa

Marcelo

against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. For now, Spain look less like hopefuls than the

Malaysian time) in Miami before facing Cape Verde at the same venue and Spain in Guadalajara.

team everyone else must chase.