Spain (3rd, 1pt) vs Saudi Arabia (2nd, 1pt)
Competition/Round: 2026 World Cup, Group H, Round 2
Spain Outs & Doubts: None
Saudi Arabia Outs & Doubts: None
Date/Time: Sunday, June 21, 2026, 12pm ET, 9am PT (USA), 6pm CET (Barcelona), 5pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 9.30pm IST (India)
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, United States
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA)
How to watch on TV: FOX (USA), BBC One (UK), United8 Sports 1 (India), SuperSport (Nigeria), TVE La 1 (Spain), others
How to watch online: FuboTV (USA), BBC iPlayer (UK), ZEE5 (India), DAZN
(Spain), others
Following a very disappointing goalless draw in their group opener against Cape Verde, Spain return to action for their second World Cup 2026 match as they face Saudi Arabia in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon.
This is only La Roja’s second game in the tournament but it already feels very important after the poor performance and the shocking result on Monday. Spain fell victim to familiar patterns of previous World Cup matches against defensive teams, and displayed a worrying lack of aggression and creativity up front.
Luis de la Fuente and his troops are getting ready for a very similar challenge against a tough Saudi team that famously beat world champions Argentina in the group stage opener in 2022 and held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw in their opening game of this tournament, with a very resolute defensive display and an outstanding performance in goal by veteran Mohammed Alowais.
The Saudis saw what Cape Verde did in the first match and will no doubt have a very similar approach, giving Spain the ball, sitting back and asking La Roja to break down a low block. De La Fuente is expected to start Lamine Yamal and give him the first 45 minutes on Sunday to see if the teenager can bring the necessary spark to the Spanish attack at the beginning of the game.
Yamal’s introduction gave Spain life against Cape Verde and the hope is he can have an even bigger impact until he’s replaced at halftime, but another Blaugrana is also expected to get a start as Dani Olmo could replace Gavi on the left wing after a strong showing off the bench in the first game.
Spain will have to play with much more urgency in this one to avoid another trap game and reach the big group finale against Uruguay in position to clinch top spot. Their attack will have to be faster, more dynamic and more efficient in front of goal, and Barça fans will hope they can build a comfortable early lead so the terrifying prospect of Yamal playing more than 45 minutes doesn’t become reality.
Let’s dance.
(Be careful, Lamine.)
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Spain (4-3-3): Simón; Porro, Cubarsí, Laporte, Cucurella; Fabián, Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Oyarzabal, Olmo
Saudi Arabia (5-4-1): Alowais; Abdulhamid, Altambakti, Lajami, Alamri, Alharbi; Aljuwayr, Kanno, Alkhaibari, Aldawsari; Albrikan
PREDICTION
Bad opening games are par for the course for Spain in the majority of their World Cup campaigns, so no one will be panicking after Monday. And I believe the urgency of needing all three points and the extra minutes given to Yamal will be enough to secure a solid win in this one: 2-0 Spain.
