The final round of games of the 2026 World Cup group stage take place between Wednesday and Sunday. We’ve taken a look at the Group H permutations.
We’ve broken down each group, with this article focusing on Group H. Spain hold the advantage but it’s surprise package, Cape Verde, who are most likely to join them in the next round. Uruguay and Saudi Arabia round out the group but both need results to advance.
Below are all the permutations for those groups as well as who each team could face in the next round. It’s a little complicated but we’ve tried to make it as easy we can!
How could Group H finish?
| Result A | Result B | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Verde win | Spain win | 1. Spain (7 points) 2. Cape Verde (5 points) 3. Uruguay (2 points) 4. Saudi Arabia (1 point) |
| Cape Verde win | Spain/Uruguay draw | 1. Spain (5 points) 2. Cape Verde (5 points) 3. Uruguay (3 points) 4. Saudi Arabia (1 point) |
| Cape Verde win | Uruguay win | 1. Uruguay (5 points) 2. Cape Verde (5 points) 3. Spain (4 points) 4. Saudi Arabia (1 point) |
| Cape Verde/Saudi Arabia draw | Spain win | 1. Spain (7 points) 2. Cape Verde (3 points) 3. Uruguay (2 points) 4. Saudi Arabia (2 points) |
| Cape Verde/Saudi Arabia draw | Spain/Uruguay draw | 1. Spain (5 points) 2. Uruguay (3 points) 3. Cape Verde (3 points) 4. Saudi Arabia (2 points) |
| Cape Verde/Saudi Arabia draw | Uruguay win | 1. Uruguay (5 points) 2. Spain (4 points) 3. Cape Verde (3 points) 4. Saudi Arabia (2 points) |
| Saudi Arabia win | Spain win | 1. Spain (7 points) 2. Saudi Arabia (4 points) 3. Uruguay (2 points) 4. Cape Verde (2 points) |
| Saudi Arabia win | Spain/Uruguay draw | 1. Spain (5 points) 2. Saudi Arabia (4 points) 3. Uruguay (3 points) 4. Cape Verde (2 points) |
| Saudi Arabia win | Uruguay win | 1. Uruguay (5 points) 2. Spain (4 points) 3. Saudi Arabia (4 points) 4. Cape Verde (2 points) |
This is one of the most confusing groups but we’ll do our best here!
Spain are assured of their place in the Round of 32 unless they lose to Uruguay and Cape Verde beat Saudi Arabia. Even then they’ll stand a good chance of making it through as one of the best third-placed nations.
Cape Verde know that a win will see them through but, such is the close nature of the group, a loss will result in them finishing bottom of the group. A draw is only enough for them to automatically qualify if Spain beat Uruguay. There is also a chance for them to win the group but they will need to beat Saudi Arabia by at least two goals and hope that Uruguay only beat Spain by a single goal.
Uruguay know that a win will see them win the group, unless Cape Verde beat Saudi Arabia by a bigger margin than Uruguay beat Spain. The only other route that Uruguay have to finishing in the top two is if they draw with Spain and Cape Verde can only manage a point against Saudi Arabia. There is still one caveat to that, however. If Cape Verde score two or more goals than Uruguay score in those draws (i.e. if Cape Verde draw 2-2 and Uruguay draw 0-0) then Uruguay will only finish third. We told you this was a complicated one!
Things are a little more simple for Saudi Arabia. Anything other than a win and they finish bottom of the group. If they can find a victory they will finish second unless Uruguay beat Spain. That will result in Saudi Arabia finishing in third position.
Who could the teams from Group H face in the next round?
The winner of Group H will take on a the nation that finishes second in Group J. That is currently projected to be Austria.
The team that finishes second in Group H will face the winner of Group J. Argentina have already been confirmed to be that side.
The current projections show that the side that finishes third in Group H will have done enough to qualify for the Round of 32. That sets up a tie with the nation that wins Group A, already confirmed to be Mexico.
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