Spain takes on Uruguay in an astonishing stadium in Mexico to close out Group H, desperate to steady the ship. La Roja’s rocky start to this World Cup has defied expectations, costing the Europeans valuable ground in the FIFA rankings and leaving them with everything to prove against the Charruas.
Spain entered the 2026 World Cup with 1,874.71 points in the FIFA rankings. However, La Roja’s unexpected draw with Cape Verde in its tournament debut cost the 2010 champions 18.68 points.
Following its subsequent win over Saudi Arabia, Spain was only able to recover 8.29 points. Entering today’s game against Uruguay, Spain sits at No. 3 overall in the FIFA rankings, trailing only France and Argentina.
A win against Uruguay would boost Spain’s FIFA ranking
Spain faces several distinct scenarios against Uruguay today. While La Roja enters Matchday 3 as the group leader, a poor result combined with external factors could see it drop as low as third place in the group.
Pedri of Spain
Uruguay’s current FIFA ranking has also shifted since the start of the tournament. A victory over the Charruas would provide a welcome boost to Spain’s ranking points, though it likely won’t be enough to reclaim the global number-two spot immediately.
Spain currently holds 1,864.32 points in the FIFA rankings, while second-place Argentina sits at 1,901.93 points ahead of their match against Jordan. If La Roja wins and La Albiceleste suffers a shock defeat, Spain could theoretically leapfrog them, but it remains a highly complicated and unlikely scenario.
Spain vs Uruguay head-to-head history
Spain and Uruguay have met seven times in their history. Unfortunately for the South Americans, the historical record clearly favors the Europeans.
Spain has won four of those seven encounters and has never lost to Uruguay, drawing the remaining three matches. The two sides last met twice in 2013, with both matches ending in victories for La Roja.
