Spain has been placed in Group H, the same group from which it earned its first star at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. The national team will face each other in United States, Mexico and Canada Against the other world champion, Cinderella and the cover group.
On paper, everything indicates that leadership will be decided on the final day when they meet Uruguay. To do this, Luis de la Fuente’s men will have to do their homework against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, while Uruguay will have to do the same against the same opponents.
Spain has no margin for error in the group stage if it wants to have an “affordable” path at least until the semi-finals, where Unless there is an upset, they will face France or Germany.
Argentina, Portugal and Brazil will be relegated to the other side of the table if they finish first in their group, as appears to be the case according to the opponents they each faced.
The national team will begin its participation on the fifth day of the World Cup (Monday, June 15) by facing Cape Verde, although… Places and times remain unknown. Of the matches that will be held over a period of five weeks in Miami, Houston, Guadalajara and Atlanta.
This will be the thirteenth time that the Spanish national team participates in the World Cup, the second day of which will be held on Sunday, June 21, against Saudi Arabia, a team that it defeated in the three matches it has played so far.
Dani Olmo celebrates his goal against Turkey.
European press
They will close their way in Group H against Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay on Friday, June 26. This will be the third time that Spain faces Uruguay in the World Cup.
The first two matches ended in draws. In total, between official and friendly matches, they have met ten times, with five Spanish victories and five draws.
Obstacles towards the final
If they are still alive in the tournament, Spain will have to be very attentive to the matches of the new round of 32. The Spanish team will face the second in Group Ten if it finishes first, i.e. Argentina, Algeria, Austria and Jordan..
In the same way, one of these four teams will be the opponent if they are in second place in Group H, in which case they are the leader and quite presumably the current champion. If Spain and Argentina finish first, they will not meet until the finalBut a false move measures them in the first round.
“It’s always important because of what might happen next. But I’ve also met Scaloni and if either of us falters we can meet up too. What we can control is ours (…) We have to win, win, win.”Luis de la Fuente explained, referring to the legendary phrase of Luis Aragonés.
It’s different if the national team is one of the top eight third teams. There the leaders of Group A, G or L emerge as contenders with Mexico, Belgium or England as the presumptive group winners.
If Spain finishes first in the group, things will get complicated from the round of 16 onwards. Passing will be difficult in principle, perhaps more difficult than the quarter-finals. The national team will be measured against the second in Group K or L.
The Spanish national team celebrates one of its goals against Georgia.
Reuters
On paper, Colombia and Croatia are the strongest, Without excluding Portugal or England if they are not leaders. For the penultimate round, the likely opponents will be the top seeds in Group D or Group G, in the case of the United States and Belgium.
Looking at the semi-finals, there are many possibilities, but the strongest names, if logic prevails and they remain first in their qualifying groups, are the champion Germany, the Netherlands, and France.
In the same way, the potential and hypothetical competitors for the grand final that would go to the other side of the table if they finished first in their groups, such as Spain, are Brazil, Argentina, Portugal and England.
Many speculations and one approach, that is, a difficult competitor in the qualifying round, and even more so after falling in the round of 16 of the previous two rounds to Russia and Morocco, which are crosses that are easy to reach in advance.
However, before you do the math, you have to play the matches and win them because Luis de la Fuente admits he doesn’t trust any of his opponents when assessing the draw.
“They are complex competitors, each with their own characteristics. When I looked at all the groups I thought about how difficult each group was. “They are very difficult matches.”He pointed out the importance of not being exposed to any type of relaxation.
Favorite Spain
Given this scenario, and based on the results that Spain has recorded in the last 31 matches, in which it has not lost any of them, the national team is considered one of the most prominent candidates to win the title.
There is a common saying that “praise gets weak” and this is exactly what a coach does not want to happen to his players. “It doesn’t guarantee anything, and flattery won’t weaken us. “We have a great responsibility to do something great.”
With the draw taking place, the countdown has already begun. On Thursday 11 June, the four-year wait will end and the 23rd edition of the World Cup will take place where 48 teams will want to make history.