Our World Cup 2026 predictions for June 21: Spain under real pressure, Cape Verde out to prove Spain was no fluke, plus the banker. Here's the call.
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| 40-year-old Cape Verde keeper Vozinha cried after holding Spain to 0-0. Seven saves. Clean sheet. Against World Cup contenders. Hero stuff. |
World Cup Preview: Cape Verde And Egypt Chase Control
Today is what happens when everybody draws the first match and suddenly the whole group turns into a traffic jam.
Group G and Group H both start the day with every team on one point.
Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay and Cape Verde all drew.
Belgium, Iran, New Zealand and Egypt all drew. Lovely symmetry for the neutral. Annoying headache for anyone trying to qualify without needing a calculator on matchday three.
Spain need to stop playing pretty football with no damage. Belgium need to prove their names still mean something.
Cape Verde get Uruguay after embarrassing Spain into a goalless draw, and Egypt face New Zealand knowing this is the match they cannot waste.
For Africa, this is not a vibes day. This is a table day.
Spain vs Saudi Arabia — Group H — Atlanta
Spain drew 0-0 with Cape Verde, which is the kind of result that makes possession stats look like apology letters.
They had the ball, they had the control, and they still left the pitch with one point and a lot of side-eyes.
Saudi Arabia drew 1-1 with Uruguay, and they will happily make this ugly too.
Georgios Donis has already said Spain are not the same without Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams running at people. He is right.
Spain without width and one-v-one threat can start looking like a team trying to pass through a locked door.
The pressure is on Spain because a second draw would turn the Uruguay game into unnecessary drama.
Yamal is expected to feature off the bench again, Williams could return to the XI, and Luis de la Fuente needs speed, not another 90 minutes of decorative passing.
Projected Spain XI: Unai Simon; Marcos Llorente, Pau Cubarsi, Aymeric Laporte, Marc Cucurella; Fabian Ruiz, Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal, Nico Williams.
Projected Saudi Arabia XI: Mohammed Al-Owais; Saud Abdulhamid, Hassan Al-Tambakti, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Moteb Al-Harbi; Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Mohammed Kanno, Salem Al-Dawsari; Feras Al-Buraikan, Musab Al-Juwayr.
Key absences/team news: Victor Munoz is out for Spain with a hamstring problem and Mikel Merino is nursing a knock.
Lamine Yamal is now expected to start after his cameo against Cape Verde, even if he may not last a full 90, with Nico Williams also pushing into the XI.
Saudi Arabia have no reported absences and are set to name an unchanged side.
Prediction: Spain 2-0 Saudi Arabia.
Tip: Spain to win — Saudi Arabia will sit deep, but with Yamal and Williams back in the mix Spain should finally make the ball do something useful.
Take the -1 handicap if you fancy them to break the block by two.
Belgium vs Iran — Group G — Los Angeles
Belgium drew 1-1 with Egypt. Iran drew 2-2 with New Zealand.
So this is already one of those Group G games where a win changes the mood and a defeat starts turning the final match into a court case.
Belgium’s first World Cup game was not convincing.
They needed Lukaku’s introduction to force pressure late, and Rudi Garcia is still managing his minutes like a man carrying glass through traffic.
Kevin De Bruyne and Leandro Trossard need to give Belgium more control earlier, because Iran are not arriving with soft emotions.
Iran have had a rough build-up, with travel disruption cutting into preparation time before this match.
But that can work two ways.
It can drain a team, or it can give them that “everybody is against us” energy that makes a match far more annoying than it should be.
Mehdi Taremi is the obvious problem. Belgium can dominate the ball and still find themselves in trouble if Iran get him facing goal.
Belgium should win, but they have already shown enough wobble to make this interesting.
Projected Belgium XI: Thibaut Courtois; Thomas Meunier, Nathan Ngoy, Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper; Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans; Leandro Trossard, Kevin De Bruyne, Alexis Saelemaekers; Charles De Ketelaere.
Projected Iran XI: Alireza Beiranvand; Ramin Rezaeian, Shoja Khalilzadeh, Aria Nemati, Milad Mohammadi; Mohammad Mohebi, Saeid Ezatolahi, Saman Ghoddos, Mehdi Ghayedi; Mehdi Taremi, Shahriyar Moghanlou.
Key absences/team news: Belgium are managing Lukaku’s minutes, and Jeremy Doku has been ruled out of the Iran game with a respiratory issue.
Zeno Debast is still working back from a thigh issue.
Iran have doubts around Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Roozbeh Cheshmi and Saman Ghoddos.
Prediction: Belgium 2-1 Iran.
Tip: Belgium to win and both teams to score — Belgium carry more quality, but their soft defending and Iran’s Taremi threat make a clean sheet unlikely.
Uruguay vs Cape Verde — Group H — Miami
This is Africa’s biggest match of the day.
Cape Verde held Spain to a 0-0 draw in their first ever World Cup match, and now comes the awkward part: proving it was not just one magical night with a goalkeeper writing folklore.
Uruguay drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia in their first World Cup game, so they are not exactly arriving like a machine either.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side have intensity, midfield bite and Darwin Nunez chaos up front, but they also know another draw would leave Group H looking very uncomfortable before the final round.
Cape Verde boss Bubista has spoken about this campaign inspiring underdogs across Africa. Good.
But inspiration alone does not stop Federico Valverde shooting from 25 yards or Darwin chasing lost causes like a man offended by physics.
Cape Verde need structure, courage and a cleaner attacking plan than they showed against Spain.
Vozinha became a tournament story in that Spain match. Lovely.
Now Uruguay will test whether he can do it again when the shots come with more physical pressure, more crosses and more second balls.
For Cape Verde, this is the test after the miracle.
Draw again and they go into the Saudi Arabia game with real belief.
Lose badly and people start calling Spain a one-off.
That is the cruelty of the World Cup. It gives you history, then asks for evidence.
Projected Uruguay XI: Fernando Muslera; Guillermo Varela, Sebastian Caceres, Mathias Olivera, Juan Sanabria; Federico Valverde, Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur, Maximiliano Araujo; Federico Vinas, Darwin Nunez.
Projected Cape Verde XI: Vozinha; Joao Correia, Roberto Lopes, Diney Borges, Joao Paulo Fernandes; Patrick Andrade, Deroy Duarte; Ryan Mendes, Garry Rodrigues, Bebé; Dailon Livramento.
Key absences/team news: Uruguay are without two big names — Ronald Araujo (calf) and, more damagingly, their most creative passer Giorgian de Arrascaeta (calf) — though the Valverde-Ugarte-Bentancur midfield core still starts.
Cape Verde have no fresh injury concern reported and are expected to keep faith with the spine that frustrated Spain.
Prediction: Uruguay 1-1 Cape Verde.
Tip: Cape Verde double chance — Uruguay are missing Araujo and de Arrascaeta and looked blunt against Saudi Arabia, and Cape Verde have already shown they can turn a favourite’s night into hard labour.
New Zealand vs Egypt — Group G — Vancouver
Egypt have one job here: win the game that looks winnable before Belgium and Iran make the group messy without asking permission.
They drew 1-1 with Belgium and had that match within reach for long spells.
Now they need to stop behaving like a team happy with respect.
New Zealand drew 2-2 with Iran, and Chris Wood was excellent even without scoring.
That matters because Egypt’s defence cannot sleep on direct balls, second balls and the kind of simple football that becomes dangerous when everyone overcomplicates the World Cup.
But Egypt have Salah, Marmoush, Ashour and Ziko.
That should be enough invention and pace to attack a New Zealand back line that Iran already exposed.
Salah may not be built for full-load hero duty anymore, but he does not need 90 perfect minutes here. He needs moments.
For Africa, Egypt must take this. Not “avoid defeat”. Not “stay alive”. Win.
Because if Egypt cannot beat New Zealand after taking a point from Belgium, then what exactly are we doing at the World Cup?
Projected New Zealand XI: Max Crocombe; Tim Payne, Finn Surman, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace; Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic; Callum McCowatt, Sarpreet Singh, Elijah Just; Chris Wood.
Projected Egypt XI: Mostafa Shobeir; Mohamed Hany, Yasser Ibrahim, Ahmed Fathi, Ahmed Fotouh; Mohanad Lasheen, Marwan Attia; Mohamed Salah, Emam Ashour, Mostafa Ziko; Omar Marmoush.
Key absences/team news: Egypt have no fresh injury concerns or suspensions and are expected to stay close to the XI that troubled Belgium, with Mostafa Shobeir and Mohamed El Shenawy both options in goal.
New Zealand are also expected to keep faith with the attack that caused Iran problems.
Prediction: New Zealand 1-2 Egypt.
Tip: Egypt to win — they have the sharper final-third quality and too much at stake to waste this, though the cautious form on both sides makes Under 2.5 goals the value alternative.
Banker Of The Day
Spain to beat Saudi Arabia. The safest pick on the card. Spain cannot afford another sterile passing exhibition, and if Yamal or Williams stretch the pitch, Saudi Arabia’s low block has a lot more defending to do.
Upset Special
Cape Verde to avoid defeat against Uruguay. Call it stubborn if you want. I call it evidence.
They frustrated Spain, they know their shape, and a Uruguay side shorn of Araujo and de Arrascaeta did not exactly look like monsters against Saudi Arabia.
For Africa, today is loud at the World Cup.
Cape Verde can turn a dream start into a serious qualification push.
Egypt can move from “respectable” to dangerous. The continent does not need applause today. It needs points.
18+. Bet responsibly. Odds and team news correct at the time of writing.
