Spain top Group H, Uruguay out after 1-0 World Cup loss

Álex Baena’s 42nd-minute finish gave Spain a 1-0 win over Uruguay in Guadalajara and sent Luis de la Fuente’s side to the top of Group H with seven points. For Uruguay, the defeat completed a group-stage exit with two points and no victories, a hard stop after a campaign that had stayed alive until the last round.

The result mattered because the group remained open until Cabo Verde sealed the second knockout berth with a scoreless draw against Saudi Arabia. That left Uruguay behind both Spain and Cabo Verde in the final standings, even though the draw had placed the Celeste in a section that also included Saudi Arabia and had given them a route that, on paper, could still have led into the knockout bracket.

Spain handled the pressure in a tense, physical contest at Estadio Akron, where possession and patience eventually broke Uruguay down. Baena’s goal arrived before halftime and proved enough to separate the sides, with Spain protecting the lead through the second half to claim first place and the cleaner path that comes with it. The victory also reinforced the control Spain had shown across the group stage, turning a strong opening phase into a statement finish.

De la Fuente said afterward that Spain had shown resilience in a match that demanded a lot physically, a fitting description for a contest that required the Spanish to absorb Uruguay’s intensity and keep their structure intact. The scoreline was narrow, but the consequence was larger: Spain advanced as Group H winners, while Marcelo Bielsa’s team were eliminated before the knockout rounds.

That outcome sharpened the stakes around Uruguay’s final-day survival. FIFA had already mapped possible round-of-16 opponents for the Celeste, including Argentina, Austria or Algeria, but those projections became irrelevant once Cabo Verde took second place and Spain finished first. What had looked like a group with multiple escape routes ended with Uruguay stranded on two points and Spain emerging not just as qualifiers, but as the side that owned the group.