Spain vs Saudi Arabia Predicted Lineups & Team News

Spain suffered a humiliating draw with Cape Verde in their Group H opener and now La Roja must attempt to put it behind them as they face Saudi Arabia in Atlanta on Sunday (5pm BST, BBC One).

The Saudis were close to an opening game win over Uruguay but had to settle for a point, leaving all four teams in Group H with a point each after one game.

Here's the Spain vs Saudi Arabia predicted lineups and team news ...

2026 World Cup

Group H

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Form
1	Spain	2	1	1	0	4	0	4	4	D W
2	Uruguay	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	2	D D
3	Cape Verde	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2	D D
4	Saudi Arabia	2	0	1	1	1	5	-4	1	D L

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Spain

Luis de la Fuente will have much to ponder after a frustrating start to the tournament, though the Spanish boss will try and have his squad draw on the memory of the 2010 squad losing their opening game against Switzerland before ultimately hoisting the trophy.

Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams were on the bench for the Cape Verde contest, the Barcelona teenager coming on with 20 minutes left and the Bilbao winger managing only the final few minutes as both came back from reported hamstring problems.

De la Fuente suggested before that game he was fit, but wouldn't last 90 minutes, while Yamal was featuring for the first time since mid-April. Both are set to come into the starting XI now for this must-win game, with Ferran Torres and Gavi likely to drop to the bench.

Forward Victor Munoz may have to sit this one out again with his own hamstring concern.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia boss Georgios Donis seemingly emerged from Uruguay game without any injury concerns and should have a clean bill of health for this contest at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The Green Falcons will be eyeing an upset and hope to carry a threat in the form of Abdulelah Al Amri - who netted against the South Americans - and captain Salem Al-Dawsari (27 international goals) and Firas Al Buraikan (15 goals for Saudi Arabia).

Remember you can bet on this match and check out all of the live Spain vs Saudi Arabia odds over on betfred.com

Spain vs Saudi Arabia Key Players:

Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain)

It would be easy to point at Yamal but the 18-year-old lacks match sharpness and, while he may well start, he could do with some of his team-mates taking the burden in this key game.

That could be a challenge Mikel Oyarzabal is willing to accept. The Real Sociedad forward scored the winning goal in the Euro 2024 final against England after coming on for Alvaro Morata and has since established himself as the go-to man up front for this Spanish side.

He has 25 goals in 54 appearances and the Basque-born business graduate can play a leadership role for a Spanish side in need of some increased productivity in the final third after scoring just four goals in four games, with three of those coming against Peru, and just one from games against Egypt, Iraq and Cape Verde.

Mohammed al-Owais (Saudi Arabia)

The 34-year-old goalkeeper was not even tipped to be a starter but has displaced Nawaf al-Aqidi as number one. He donned the gloves for the opener against Uruguay and made nine saves.

He was famously Man of the Match in the 2-1 win over Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the calming presence of the Al-Ula netminder could be a key factor if the Green Falcons are going to frustrate the European champions in Georgia.

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