Spain vs Uruguay, World Cup Group H, Socceroos Update, Argentina & More

Spain's Mikel Merino brings down Rodrigo Bentancur and Uruguay has an opportunity from the dead ball.

The ball into the box is high and floated, with Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon attempting to claim the ball but not gathering cleanly.

For a moment, the ball is bobbling around the penalty area, before being cleared by the Spanish defence.

Spain and Uruguay have entered the arena in Guadalajara, and are lined up for the national anthems.

The Himno Nacional del Uruguay is one of my favourite national anthems and is the first to play from the stadium speakers. It features a long, bright introduction before a couple verses sang with considerable gusto.

Then, the Spanish players look on as Marcha Real, one of only three anthems not to feature any lyrics, moves us closer to kick-off.

There is a minute's silence for the victims of the earthquake in Venezuela.

According to reports in South American media, Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa is facing a "rebellion" from some of his biggest players.

Sergio Rochet, Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Federico Valverde told Bielsa they wanted the team to play in a low block against European champion Spain and that they disagreed with the way he had conducted training sessions.

Bielsa reportedly responded by speaking to the squad for almost an hour.

And from what his team lineup suggests, Uruguay will not be backing down against Spain.

They look to be playing a 4-3-3 and going man for man.

All four teams in Group H still have a chance of qualifying to the knockout phase.

Spain leads the group on four points.

Uruguay and Cabo Verde both have two points.

Even Saudi Arabia, bottom of the table with one point, can still qualify.

Should be a thrilling pair of games.

- AP

Cabo Verde has made quite an impression during its first World Cup.

The island nation off the western coast of Africa pulled off one of the World Cup’s biggest surprises by playing pre-tournament favourite Spain to 0-0 draw in its opener.

Cabo Verde followed that up by scoring its first goals of the World Cup in a 2-2 draw with Uruguay.

Next up could be a monumental achievement for the Blue Sharks: a spot in the knockout stage.

"This once again shows that everyone is entitled to dream and nothing is impossible," Cabo Verde coach Bubista said.

Beat Saudi Arabia in Houston and Cabo Verde will finish no worse than second in Group H.

Even a draw could be good enough to get the Blue Sharks out of the group, a monumental accomplishment for a nation of about 500,000 people.

"It’s in our hands," defender Roberto Lopes said.

"We have to go and take it."

Big news coming out of the Socceroos camp.

Mat Leckie and Jacob Italiano are out of the World Cup.

Both have departed to their respective clubs.

The pair missed the goalless draw with Paraguay yesterday.

Leckie picked up a hamstring injury in the USA defeat.

Italiano suffered a groin injury in training.

The Socceroos can't replace them so the squad will be two players short for the rest of the tournament.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni says Lionel Messi will be on the bench for tomorrow's game with Jordan.

Already qualified, Scaloni will make changes to rest some of the players.

Probably a relief for those players chasing the Golden Boot as lord knows how many Messi would have scored against Jordan.

Later today, the final games in Group G will be played.

Whoever finishes second in the group will face the Socceroos in the knockout phase in the early hours of next Saturday.

As it stands, any of the four sides in the group could finish second.

Today we have Egypt vs Iran and Belgium vs New Zealand.

We couldn't get Australia vs New Zealand in the round of 32 could we?

- AP

Senegal needed to win and it needed to win big. Done and done.

Senegal racked up the goals against 10-man Iraq in a 5-0 victory that boosted its chances of reaching the knockout stages.

"The job is done, but fate is no longer in our hands," Senegal coach Pape Thiaw says.

"We have to wait until the other matches are over."

- AP

Norway coach Ståle Solbakken says resting so many players was an easy decision for him.

He made 10 changes for the game against France, including leaving out star striker Erling Haaland.

"The break that we had from the last game to this game was the shortest of any team. ... So it’s a no-brainer," he said.

"The fans around Norway and also in the arena would have like to see Erling. But that is not really the issue. We want to proceed as long as we can in the tournament."

The Norwegians will face Côte d'Ivoire in the round of 32 in Texas.

- AP

A special guest crashed Portugal coach Roberto Martínez's news conference: Grammy winner Dua Lipa.

Her sound, anyway.

Speakers inside the interview room at the stadium started blaring some of Lipa's songs for a few minutes in the middle of Martínez's press conference.

It wasn't totally clear why — some wires got crossed, evidently, during a rehearsal happening inside the stadium — but nobody seemed to mind that it happened.

Martinez even swayed a little in his chair while workers tried to find a way to silence the music.

"Dua Lipa's supporting Portugal, I believe," he said.