Key events
The national anthems. Uruguay sing their anthem heartily. Spain stand with lips sealed as theirs plays, mainly because it has no words. Next up: a game of football.
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The players are out. Uruguay almost certainly need a win here to qualify for the next round. And if they go through as runners up, their reward would be a last-32 with ⊠Argentina. Yikes.
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Updated at 02.00 CEST
Justin Kavanagh writes in about the obscure Fifa bylaw I mentioned earlier. âActually Tom, that Fifa bylaw has been rewritten just before this tournament: Now, if future hosts also qualify as winners, they must agree to be coached by Bielsa for the next four years, while being drug-tested once-a-week for anti-depressants. Also, they will only be allowed visitation rights to their hard-won trophy at its permanent residency at the Oval Office, once a month.â
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Uruguayâs Bad Omen-ometer: HIGH ALERT â Spain have not lost in 33 games and have never lost when Lamine Yamal has started.
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Just a reminder if you see Marcelo Bielsa on the apps DO NOT swipe. This from Sid Loweâs preview of todayâs game:
When Uruguay were beaten 5-1 by the USA in November, he described himself as âtoxicâ, admitting: âThose who have a relationship with me come out of it worse. There are toxic people who only see errors, who demand, who correct, who are never satisfied with anything, who only like to talk about work, who go to eat and take a newspaper with them because they donât want to integrate with the rest. But do you know what that behaviour is based on? Fear. One doesnât enjoy winning; he fears losing much more.â
Or maybe just agree to meet up for a drink and store it away for a fun story. Donât go on a second date though.
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Updated at 01.38 CEST
Uruguayâs build-up to this World Cup was not good (apart, obviously, from the bit where they qualified) and they lost 5-1 to the US in one of their friendlies. It hasnât got much better at the tournament proper after two draws against solid but no world beating opponents. And now all they need to do is beat Spain. Yeah, that Spain.
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Inside information on Spain: my partner* is Spanish so letâs get her verdict:
Q: What do you think of Spainâs campaign so far?
A: What do you mean by campaign?
Q: Their World Cup so far, how is it going?
A: Oh great, yeah â weâre going to win.
There you have it.
*Partnerâs permission to use this interview was sought before publication.
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Senegal put the hurt on Iraq earlier today, refusing to score a bad goal. Itâs well worth looking at the highlights on whichever Infantino-approved replay is available to you â the result may be enough to put Senegal through as one of the best third-placed teams. You can also read our match report and just imagine the goals â they may even be better that way:
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Team news
A few changes for each team. For Spain, Marcos Llorente replaces Pedro Porro in defence, while Mikel Merino and Alex Baena are in Dani â Olmo and Nico Williams. Marcelo Bielsa has Fernando Muslera in goal and Darwin Nunez leading the line.
Uruguay: Fernando Muslera; Sebastian âCaceres, Guillermo âVarela, Mathias Olivera; Manuel âUgarte, Rodrigo Bentancur, Federico Valverde, Agustin Canobbio, âMaxi Araujo, âJuan Manuel âSanabria; Darwin âNunez. Subs: Rochet, Mele, Gimenez, Ronald Araujo, de la Cruz, de Arrascaeta, Pellistri, Martinez, Vina, Rodriguez, Aguirre, Vinas, Piquerez, Bueno, Zalazar.
Spain: Unai Simon; Marcos Llorente, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella; Mikel Merino, Alex Baena, Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Olmo, Pino, Porro, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA)
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Updated at 01.04 CEST
Fun fact, courtesy of Sid Lowe: Uruguay have not won a World Cup game without Luis SuĂĄrez since 1990 (just to clarify, SuĂĄrez did not play in the 1990 World Cup as he was three years old and heâs not that good). SuĂĄrez is not in the squad for this World Cup.
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Are Spain the best team at the World Cup? No! Because the Fifa rankings say theyâre No 3 in the world, and those rankings are in no way flawed. They are, however, probably among the top two contenders, aside from France. And the French just gave everyoneâs favourite dark horse, Norway, one hell of a beating. How much we can read into that is debatable â Norway rested 10 players â but the French still won 4-1 and looked very crisp. So Spain may want to put on a dominant display tonight to gather some momentum as they head to the knockouts. Or they could just do the PSG method and mess around until it really matters and then become unbeatable.
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Updated at 00.48 CEST
Good news for Uruguay! Even if they do get thrashed by Spain tonight and end up going out, theyâre guaranteed a place in the 2030 World Cup due to the fact that they are co-hosts. And by co-hosts, I mean theyâre hosting exactly one match. No one is saying that itâs easier than ever to qualify for the World Cup but âŠ
Spain are also guaranteed a place at the 2030 World Cup due to the fact that theyâre another of the 38 tournament co-hosts. What happens if Spain or Uruguay win this World Cup? Do they qualify for 2030 automatically twice â as winners and hosts? Interestingly, under an obscure Fifa bylaw, they do. They get to field two teams, but each player is only allowed to play with one leg and has to wear a hat made of bees to make things fairer. Should be interesting!
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Updated at 00.28 CEST
Preamble
This World Cup has suffered a little from its expanded format - there have been few heavyweight clashes but I guess two former champions battling for first place in the group counts. Hereâs whatâs at stake tonight in Guadalajara (and the rest of Group G):
Spain will guarantee qualification with a draw or win against Uruguay.
Uruguay need to beat Spain to absolutely guarantee qualification. A draw could be enough but it would be close.
Share
Updated at 01.10 CEST
Tom will be here shortly. In the meantime, hereâs your initial briefing on this matchup, courtesy of Graham Ruthvenâs daily watch guide:
What to watch for
Uruguay havenât played much like a Bielsa team at this World Cup so far. The 1930 and 1950 winners have struggled for creativity and have been one-dimensional in the final third in draws against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia. To make the knockout rounds, Uruguay must show more variety.
Spain bounced back from their underwhelming opener against Cape Verde to put four past Saudi Arabia. Lamine Yamalâs return gave the European champions a much-needed direct threat, which opened up space and restored faith that Spain will be as strong as was predicted before the start of the tournament.
Player to watch: Lamine Yamal, Spain â The 18-year-old is Spainâs biggest difference-maker and the player who makes everything click for them in the final third. Without him, they simply donât have the necessary invention.
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The national anthems. Uruguay sing their anthem heartily. Spain stand with lips sealed as theirs plays, mainly because it has no words. Next up: a game of football.
Share
The players are out. Uruguay almost certainly need a win here to qualify for the next round. And if they go through as runners up, their reward would be a last-32 with ⊠Argentina. Yikes.
Share
Updated at 02.00 CEST
Justin Kavanagh writes in about the obscure Fifa bylaw I mentioned earlier. âActually Tom, that Fifa bylaw has been rewritten just before this tournament: Now, if future hosts also qualify as winners, they must agree to be coached by Bielsa for the next four years, while being drug-tested once-a-week for anti-depressants. Also, they will only be allowed visitation rights to their hard-won trophy at its permanent residency at the Oval Office, once a month.â
Share
Uruguayâs Bad Omen-ometer: HIGH ALERT â Spain have not lost in 33 games and have never lost when Lamine Yamal has started.
Share
Just a reminder if you see Marcelo Bielsa on the apps DO NOT swipe. This from Sid Loweâs preview of todayâs game:
When Uruguay were beaten 5-1 by the USA in November, he described himself as âtoxicâ, admitting: âThose who have a relationship with me come out of it worse. There are toxic people who only see errors, who demand, who correct, who are never satisfied with anything, who only like to talk about work, who go to eat and take a newspaper with them because they donât want to integrate with the rest. But do you know what that behaviour is based on? Fear. One doesnât enjoy winning; he fears losing much more.â
Or maybe just agree to meet up for a drink and store it away for a fun story. Donât go on a second date though.
Share
Updated at 01.38 CEST
Uruguayâs build-up to this World Cup was not good (apart, obviously, from the bit where they qualified) and they lost 5-1 to the US in one of their friendlies. It hasnât got much better at the tournament proper after two draws against solid but no world beating opponents. And now all they need to do is beat Spain. Yeah, that Spain.
Share
Inside information on Spain: my partner* is Spanish so letâs get her verdict:
Q: What do you think of Spainâs campaign so far?
A: What do you mean by campaign?
Q: Their World Cup so far, how is it going?
A: Oh great, yeah â weâre going to win.
There you have it.
*Partnerâs permission to use this interview was sought before publication.
Share
Senegal put the hurt on Iraq earlier today, refusing to score a bad goal. Itâs well worth looking at the highlights on whichever Infantino-approved replay is available to you â the result may be enough to put Senegal through as one of the best third-placed teams. You can also read our match report and just imagine the goals â they may even be better that way:
Share
Team news
A few changes for each team. For Spain, Marcos Llorente replaces Pedro Porro in defence, while Mikel Merino and Alex Baena are in Dani â Olmo and Nico Williams. Marcelo Bielsa has Fernando Muslera in goal and Darwin Nunez leading the line.
Uruguay: Fernando Muslera; Sebastian âCaceres, Guillermo âVarela, Mathias Olivera; Manuel âUgarte, Rodrigo Bentancur, Federico Valverde, Agustin Canobbio, âMaxi Araujo, âJuan Manuel âSanabria; Darwin âNunez. Subs: Rochet, Mele, Gimenez, Ronald Araujo, de la Cruz, de Arrascaeta, Pellistri, Martinez, Vina, Rodriguez, Aguirre, Vinas, Piquerez, Bueno, Zalazar.
Spain: Unai Simon; Marcos Llorente, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Cucurella; Mikel Merino, Alex Baena, Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Olmo, Pino, Porro, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA)
Share
Updated at 01.04 CEST
Fun fact, courtesy of Sid Lowe: Uruguay have not won a World Cup game without Luis SuĂĄrez since 1990 (just to clarify, SuĂĄrez did not play in the 1990 World Cup as he was three years old and heâs not that good). SuĂĄrez is not in the squad for this World Cup.
Share
Are Spain the best team at the World Cup? No! Because the Fifa rankings say theyâre No 3 in the world, and those rankings are in no way flawed. They are, however, probably among the top two contenders, aside from France. And the French just gave everyoneâs favourite dark horse, Norway, one hell of a beating. How much we can read into that is debatable â Norway rested 10 players â but the French still won 4-1 and looked very crisp. So Spain may want to put on a dominant display tonight to gather some momentum as they head to the knockouts. Or they could just do the PSG method and mess around until it really matters and then become unbeatable.
Share
Updated at 00.48 CEST
Good news for Uruguay! Even if they do get thrashed by Spain tonight and end up going out, theyâre guaranteed a place in the 2030 World Cup due to the fact that they are co-hosts. And by co-hosts, I mean theyâre hosting exactly one match. No one is saying that itâs easier than ever to qualify for the World Cup but âŠ
Spain are also guaranteed a place at the 2030 World Cup due to the fact that theyâre another of the 38 tournament co-hosts. What happens if Spain or Uruguay win this World Cup? Do they qualify for 2030 automatically twice â as winners and hosts? Interestingly, under an obscure Fifa bylaw, they do. They get to field two teams, but each player is only allowed to play with one leg and has to wear a hat made of bees to make things fairer. Should be interesting!
Share
Updated at 00.28 CEST
Preamble
This World Cup has suffered a little from its expanded format - there have been few heavyweight clashes but I guess two former champions battling for first place in the group counts. Hereâs whatâs at stake tonight in Guadalajara (and the rest of Group G):
Spain will guarantee qualification with a draw or win against Uruguay.
Uruguay need to beat Spain to absolutely guarantee qualification. A draw could be enough but it would be close.
Share
Updated at 01.10 CEST
Tom will be here shortly. In the meantime, hereâs your initial briefing on this matchup, courtesy of Graham Ruthvenâs daily watch guide:
What to watch for
Uruguay havenât played much like a Bielsa team at this World Cup so far. The 1930 and 1950 winners have struggled for creativity and have been one-dimensional in the final third in draws against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia. To make the knockout rounds, Uruguay must show more variety.
Spain bounced back from their underwhelming opener against Cape Verde to put four past Saudi Arabia. Lamine Yamalâs return gave the European champions a much-needed direct threat, which opened up space and restored faith that Spain will be as strong as was predicted before the start of the tournament.
Player to watch: Lamine Yamal, Spain â The 18-year-old is Spainâs biggest difference-maker and the player who makes everything click for them in the final third. Without him, they simply donât have the necessary invention.
Share
