Slick Spain shine as Sharks shock the Celeste
Althea Santos3 days ago · 45 views
Slick Spain shine as Sharks shock the Celeste  image
  • Spain find their scoring boots to sweep aside Saudis

  • Goalless draw leaves Belgium and IR Iran under pressure

  • Valiant Cabo Verde storm back to stun Uruguay

  • Standings | Fixtures | Tickets

Cabo Verde again emerged as the headline-makers on Matchday 11 after thrilling Miami and taking points from yet another FIFA World Cup™ giant.

Spain, the team the debutants subdued in the opening round of matches, bounced back with an impressive and resounding victory over Saudi Arabia, while Belgium and IR Iran ended up deadlocked and facing an uncertain future.


Spain 4-0 Saudi Arabia

Group H Atlanta Stadium

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 21: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain celebrates with teammate Alex Baena #15 after scoring his team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group H match between Spain and Saudi Arabia at Atlanta Stadium on June 21, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Patrick Smith - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Luis de la Fuente's men dominated from start to finish, erasing the memory of their disappointing display in that opener. Wonderkid Lamine Yamal opened the scoring, becoming the eighth-youngest player in history to score at the global showpiece, and Mikel Oyarzabal added a brace before a Hassan Al Tambakti own goal completed the scoring.

While Spain moved closer to the knockout phase, Saudi Arabia now need a result against Cabo Verde to keep their campaign alive.

Match report & quotes


Belgium 0-0 IR Iran

Group G Los Angeles Stadium

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 21: Alireza Beiranvand #1 of IR Iran makes a save during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between Belgium and IR Iran at Los Angeles Stadium on June 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, United States. (Photo by Matt McNulty - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Neither side emerged entirely happy with this LA stalemate, which left each of them winless and under pressure ahead of their final Group G fixtures.

Wasteful Belgium "lacked efficiency" in the words of coach Rudi Garcia, while Romelu Lukaku - back in the starting line-up - criticised the ten-man Red Devils for "playing with too much emotion". IR Iran had plenty to be proud of, but even they will look back with regret on the marginal offside offence that denied Mehdi Taremi a potential winner from a cleverly worked free-kick.

Match report & quotes


Uruguay 2-2 Cabo Verde

Group H Miami Stadium

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JUNE 21: Helio Varela #26 of Cabo Verde celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group H match between Uruguay and Cabo Verde at Miami Stadium on June 21, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

Game of the day, so far at least, was played out in Florida as another of the section's former champions floundered against Cabo Verde. Having shut out Spain in their opener, the Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks) showed their attacking teeth against Uruguay, opening the scoring with a stunning Kevin Pina free-kick before battling back to snatch an unlikely draw in a breathless second half.

With these sides locked together on two points, just one ahead of Saudi Arabia and two adrift of Spain, Group H seems set to go down to the wire.


New Zealand - Egypt

Group G BC Place Vancouver

Still to come.


Standings


Stats

  • At 18 years and 343 days old, Lamine Yamal became the eighth-youngest goalscorer in World Cup history, moving ahead of a certain Lionel Messi (18 years, 357 days) in the top ten.

  • Miami staged the first World Cup match involving two players over the age of 40: goalkeepers Vozinha (40 years, 18 days) and Fernando Muslera (40 years, 5 days) of Cabo Verde and Uruguay respectively.

  • Alireza Jahanbakhsh became just the second IR Iran player, after Ehsan Hajisafi, to play in four separate World Cup editions.

  • Maxi Araujo became the first Uruguay player to score in his first two World Cup appearances since Juan Hohberg in 1954.


Next up

June 22 (all times local)12:00 Argentina v Austria (Group J) 17:00 France v Iraq (Group I) 20:00 Norway v Senegal (Group I) 20:00 Jordan v Algeria (Group J)

Matchday 12 preview


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