At least on paper, everything should be clear in Group H of this year's World Cup. The current European champion, Spain, is the absolute favorite to win first place, and the "red fury" is in the inner circle of teams that aspire to the world throne itself.
Uruguay is "drawn" to second place, while Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde will fight for third place and a possible passage to the knockout stage.
SPAIN
"The Furies" arrive at the World Cup hoping to repeat their success from 2010, when they won the "goddess" in South Africa. However, since then, the Spaniards have not exactly shone at world championships.
In Brazil 2014, they were eliminated in the group stage, while in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, they exited the competition in the round of 16 after defeats to Russia and Morocco.
Coach Luis de la Fuente caused a stir after announcing the list, as it did not include any Real Madrid players. At the same time, eight Barcelona players were called up, further sparking anger in the capital.
The Spanish team is fiercely competitive at every position. Probably no one in the world except De la Fuente knows who will be his team's goalkeeper, given that the competition is almost equal - Joan Garcia, Unai Simon and David Raja. If he stays consistent with what he has done so far, Simon will be the goalkeeper for the European champions at the World Cup.
The centre-back tandem will likely consist of Aymeric Laporte and Pau Kubarsi, while Marc Cucurella and Pedro Poro will act as full-backs.
De la Fuente will have a hard time in midfield. There is Barcelona virtuoso Pedri, former Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, two-time European champion with PSG Fabian Ruiz, and along with them Gavi, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi.
The attacking arsenal at the disposal of the Spanish team has enough material to attack the world title. The main star is of course Lamin Jamal, and according to the latest statements of De la Fuente, the magical 18-year-old should be ready even for the start and the first match of the championship, which Spain plays against Cape Verde on June 15th at 18 pm.
URUGUAY
The Uruguayans have the potential and quality to be a team that could upset many at this World Cup.
They reached the World Cup by winning fourth place in the South American qualifiers - 10 points behind first-place Argentina.
We will see the real strength and preparedness of Marcelo Bielsa's team in the match against Spain, which is scheduled for the 3rd round, on June 27th at 2:00 AM.
The "Sky Blues" achieved their greatest successes a long time ago - in 1930 and 1950, when they were champions. Since then, they have been in the fight for bronze three more times, but have lost each time, the last time in South Africa in 2010.
Since then, only Russia 2018 has been noteworthy, when they reached the quarterfinals where they were defeated by the team that later won the "goddess", France.
The defense will be led by captain José María Jiménez, supported by Ronald Araujo. The team's biggest star is certainly Real Madrid's Federico Valverde. There are also Manuel Ugarte (Manchester United), Matías Olivera (Napoli) and others.
Uruguay's journey to the World Cup begins at midnight on June 16th, when their rival will be Saudi Arabia.
SAUDI ARABIA
The "Green Falcons" are in their seventh World Cup appearance. This year they are looking to repeat their success from 1994, when they managed to reach the round of 16 as debutants.
Everyone remembers them from the last World Cup in Qatar, where they shocked Argentina in the first round after a comeback (2:1). It was a blow that woke up the "gauchos", and they later went all the way to the much-desired trophy.
The Saudis went through three rounds of qualification to secure their spot in the World Cup. They started the competition in the second round, finishing second in Group G, level on points with first-placed Jordan, but with a lower goal difference. Then came the third round, where Japan and Australia qualified directly from Group C, while Saudi Arabia, finishing third, had to move on to the next round of qualification.
They succeeded in the fourth round. Four points won, the same as Iraq, but more goals conceded, while Indonesia was third.
Greek expert Giorgos Donis' list includes only one player who plays outside of Saudi Arabia. This is Andrija Bulatović's teammate from Lance Saud Abdulhamid.
The man who brought about the aforementioned triumph over Argentina, Salem Al-Dawsari, is back on the roster and will lead the Saudis as captain.
As many as 13 players on the list are members of the two strongest clubs in the Saudi league, Al-Nasra and Al-Hilal.
CAPE VERDE ISLANDS
World Cup debutants - Cape Verde. They are the underdogs in this group, but with friendly wins against Serbia and Bermuda (both 3:0), they have shown that they are in good shape heading into the World Cup.
They played brilliantly in the qualifiers. They came in first place in Group D, leaving behind the giants of African football, Cameroon. There were also Libya, Angola, Mauritius and Eswatini.
The coach of Cape Verde is also a former player from this country, Pedro Leitao Brito, or Bubista for short.
There are no big names on his list, but there are several players who play at a solid European level. Villarreal defender Logan Costa, Benfica left-back Sidney Lopes Cabral, and right-back and teammate of our Stefan Savić at Trabzonspor, Vagner Pina, stand out.
Also, this island nation has two more teammates of Montenegrin footballers. Joao Paulo shares the dressing room with Risto Radunović in FCSB, and Gilson Bencimol with Stefan Lončar in Russian Akron.
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