Spain already knows its rivals, as well as the venues where it will play the three World Cup Group H matches in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Reds’ trip will begin on June 15 against Cape Verde, at Atlanta Stadium, at 12 p.m. (6 p.m. in mainland Spain). Same time and same stadium for the match against Saudi Arabia, June 21. The group will close on June 26 at 7:00 p.m. (2:00 a.m. on June 27 in Spain) at the Guadalajara stadium (Mexico), against historic Uruguay. La Roja’s destiny in the World Cup will be marked by this duel against Marcelo Bielsa’s team. There, in principle, it will be decided which of the two will face Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the round of 16.
“We must first pass, then we will see,” simply declared Lionel Scaloni, the Argentine coach, about a possible cross against Spain or Uruguay. Luis de la Fuente, for his part, responded: “It’s always important because of what can happen next. But I also crossed paths with Scaloni, and if one of us stumbles, we could also meet. What we can control is ours, and we want to be first in the group. And in the following qualifying rounds, win, win and win.”
In Montevideo, they raised their hands when Shaquille O’Neal mentioned the Celeste name and placed them in Group H, led by Spain, ranked first in the FIFA rankings. The Uruguayan press defined the Spanish team as “the best in the world”, also in love with the talent of Lamine Yamal.
“For us the important thing is to qualify,” said Diego Forlán, official representative of the Charrúas in Washington. “We will have to try to win the previous two. Cape Verde is a beginner, but Arabia already beat Argentina in the last World Cup. We will see where we are in the last match. I put them all at the same level of difficulty”, explained the La Roja coach.
It will not be the first time that Spain visits Guadalajara. In Mexico 86, although in the Jalisco stadium, La Roja faced Brazil. It was the day of Míchel’s famous ghost goal: Australian referee Chris Bambridge did not consider the then Madrid player’s goal valid after his shot from outside the area crossed the goal line – as seen in the footage – and then went out.
Guadalajara will be La Roja’s only long trip in the group stage. The Federation’s idea, for now, is for Chicago to be the central base for Luis de la Fuente’s team in the United States. In other words, between Chicago and Guadalajara there is between four and a half and five hours of flight time, while it will take just over two hours of plane travel when Spain faces Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in the first two matches of Group H.
The other option considered by the Federation is for De la Fuente’s team to settle in Atlanta. In this case you will only go to Guadalajara and the journey will last four hours. The problem for the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) is that the working ground proposed by FIFA in Atlanta is inferior to that of Chicago. “We like it less,” they emphasize from Las Rozas.
In Atlanta, it will be the first match in history between the Spanish team and Cape Verde, which is making its debut in a World Cup. Against Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, La Roja faced each other three times, always with a victory for Spain, the first during the 2006 World Cup in Germany (0-1).