Five Things We Learned from Uruguay 0-1 Spain

Five Things We Learned from Uruguay 0-1 Spain

1. An Awful Tournament

El error de #Muslera vs España, que le costó la clasificación a 16avos a #Uruguay.
pic.twitter.com/kA73nV7tol

— Mundo Poder (@MundoPoder_) June 27, 2026

The 2026 World Cup has provided Fernando Muslera with yet another awful time.

We know that he is prone to mistakes, but this tournament has shown that on another level.

Muslera has played three games of football in this tournament, and each match has provided us with another mistake.

Today's one was a howler too. A low effort from Alex Baena which looked to be quite a simple save for him, but he could only flirt his hands towards it as the ball bounced over him an in. He was quite rightly taken off at half-time, and it would be a shock if he doesn't re-announce his international retirement in the next few days.

2. España Are Not Convincing

Today's game felt like an odd one. Both sides came into the game needing certain results - Spain needed to avoid defeat, and Uruguay needed to win.

The match felt rather cagey throughout, and it was rare to see an opportunity arise from something that wasn't the other side making a mistake.

Even when the initial play was good and fluent, the second to last or final pass was just poor, and Spain really did not look all that.

3. A Good Goalkeeper Certainly Makes a Difference

Muslera's performance today backs up the fact that good goalkeepers are rewarded and poor ones struggle.

It's not only Muslera who has struggled in this competition either, with other notable ones including Jordan Pickford and even Unai Simon today wasn't convincing either.

Menawhile, there have been some surprise candidates for the golden glove, including Cabo Verde's Vozinha, Ghana's Benjamin Asare, and even Japan's Zion Suzuki has looked solid.

Now of course, we're not expecting these nations to go on and win, but these good performances have certainly helped them progress out of the group, and in a knockout bracket, it is anyone's guess who wins.

4. An Awful Tournement (pt. 2)

As well as just Muslera, Uruguay have also had an awful tournament.

On paper coming into the summer, this group looked so simple to anyone and everyone who put Spain and Uruguay first and second in their World Cup predictors.

They looked lacklustre against Saudi Arabia, and had to come from a goal behind. La Celeste also had to do the same againagainst Cabo Verde, before getting into a lead and stupidly throwing it away.

And now today, where they looked very uninspiring in the final third, having zero shots on target and just four shots in general, which is not good enough from the position they started the game in.

5. The Stage is Set

🚨 FINAL: Group H

1⃣ Spain → RO32 vs Austria/Algeria
2⃣ Cape Verde → RO32 vs Argentina
3⃣ Uruguay OUT
4⃣ Saudi Arabia OUT pic.twitter.com/3jUmrZcsQg

— Sports on Predict (@predictdotsport) June 27, 2026

With that result, Spain confirm their spot at the top of Group H, where everyone expected them to finish. They will now face off against second-place in Group J, which will be either Austria or Algeria in the round of 32.

As for Cabo Verde, it was an extraordinary effort to draw 0-0 against Saudi Arabia to follow up their draws with Uruguay and Spain too to finish second. They will now go on and hope to make even more history when they face up against reigning champions Argentina within the week.

For Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, picking up just two points each is not enough and they are eliminated from the World Cup.