Baena’s strike wins Group H for Spain and sends Uruguay out

Spain go into the World Cup knockout rounds exactly as the seedings suggested, top of Group H and unbeaten, but the story in Guadalajara on June 26 was the side they left behind. Alex Baena’s strike shortly before half-time settled a 1-0 win and sent Uruguay, two-time world champions, out of the tournament at the group stage.

The goal carried a grim familiarity for Marcelo Bielsa’s team. Marcos Llorente clipped a ball into the box, Baena took a touch and got his shot away, and Fernando Muslera let the tame effort squirm through his grasp and into his own net. The veteran goalkeeper has endured a tournament to forget. By the time Bielsa replaced him at the interval, Muslera had become the first goalkeeper on record since 1966 to make three errors leading to goals in a single World Cup.

Uruguay unravel after the break

Chasing a goal that would have kept them alive, Uruguay came apart instead. Bielsa pulled captain Fede Valverde before the hour, a startling call given the Real Madrid midfielder’s standing in the side, and none of the changes sparked the response he wanted. The night ended with Agustin Canobbio shown a red card in stoppage time for a wild lunge on Pau Cubarsi, a fitting closing image for a campaign that promised far more.

For a nation that arrived among the dark horses, going out at the first hurdle is a heavy blow. Uruguay finished level on two points with Saudi Arabia and a point short of the side that pipped them.

Cape Verde’s historic qualification

That side was Cape Verde. The World Cup debutants held Saudi Arabia to a goalless draw in the group’s other match, a result that lifted them to three points and into second place. For an island nation playing at its first World Cup, reaching the knockout rounds is exactly the kind of story the expanded 48-team format was built to throw up.

Spain, the reigning European champions, will look back on a controlled night’s work. Seven points from three games, top spot secured, and a route that now sends Luis de la Fuente’s team to Inglewood, California to face the runner-up from Group J. The finishing could be sharper before the knockouts arrive, but his side have done the basics with the minimum of fuss.

The bracket will test them more than a brittle Uruguay did. For now, though, Spain march on while one of the tournament’s grand old names heads home early.

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