Spain vs Uruguay: World Cup preview, predictions and bet builder tips

Our prediction: Spain 3-0 Uruguay

Spain

Our predicted XI (4-3-3): Simon / Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella / Ruiz, Rodri, Olmo / Yamal, Oyarzabal, Williams

Uruguay

Our predicted XI (4-3-3): Muslera / Varela, Caceres, Olivera, Sanabria / Valverde, Ugarte, Bentancur / Canobbio, Vinas, Araujo

European champions Spain were held to a stunning draw by Cape Verde in their Group H opener, but they are often slow starters at major tournaments and got back to winning ways by hammering Saudi Arabia 4-0. That game was wrapped up inside half an hour with Spain three up and Luis de la Fuente was able to rotate his team. La Roja have already secured passage to the last 32, but a win against Uruguay would see them top Group H. Pedri may not be risked here as he is one booking away from a suspension.

There's been plenty of turmoil behind the scenes in the Uruguay camp and that has translated on to the pitch, as they've started with two draws against teams they would expect to beat in Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. Uruguay now have to beat the strongest team in the group to advance to the knockouts, although a draw would probably see them through as one of the best third-placed teams.

Spain have kept two clean sheets from two and this Uruguay attack is a far cry from the days of Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan. We can't see the Spaniards having too many problems against their South American opponents, and we're predicting a 3-0 win for Spain to wrap up Group H and send Uruguay home.

Marcelo Bielsa's high-risk, high-reward playing style is well known but Uruguay have been conceding chances at will in this World Cup, and they were fortunate Cape Verde wasted numerous chances on the counter attack to add to their two goals.

Spain's technicians failed to break Cape Verde down but made up for that with a comfortable 4-0 win against Saudi Arabia, and they'll fancy their chances at adding a few more against Uruguay. With four goals scored in each side's last match, we're predicting there to be over 2.5 goals as part of our Spain vs Uruguay bet builder.

After years of the striker being a problem position for Spain, Real Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabal has emerged as the undisputed first choice up front. Oyarzabal famously scored the late winner in the Euro 2024 final against England and has 14 goals in his last 14 international games. He scored twice and also provided an assist against Saudi Arabia, so we're backing Oyarzabal to continue his fine form with another goal against Uruguay.

For the last selection in our Spain vs Uruguay bet builder, we've gone for Uruguay to have the most total cards in the match. Both sides have had good discipline, with Spain collecting just one yellow card and Uruguay only two, but the stakes are higher in this one for Uruguay as they try to avoid crashing out of the group stage. The referee, Ismail Elfath, has shown 14 yellow cards and two reds in his last three games so is clearly not shy of getting his notebook out.

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All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.