World Cup diary: Spain crushes Saudi Arabia 4:0, Cape Verde draws with Uruguay

On the Sunday matchday of the football World Cup, Spain defeated Saudi Arabia 4:0, Belgium playing with ten men drew 0:0 with Iran, and Cape Verde earned a second consecutive point against Uruguay. Spain dominated against Saudi Arabia throughout, registering 22 shots compared to the opponent's single attempt.

Exciting matches were held at the football World Cup on June 21, 2026, continuing both the dominance of tournament favorites and some surprising results.

Spain shows its strength

The day's clearest result came between Spain and Saudi Arabia, where Spain secured a 4:0 victory. The statistics clearly mirror Spanish superiority: they took 22 shots with 8 on target, while Saudi Arabia managed just one attempt that went wide of goal. Spain's expected goals (xG) was 2.86 compared to Saudi Arabia's mere 0.13. Saudi Arabia, who drew 1:1 with Uruguay in their opening match, found themselves clearly outmatched in this encounter.

For young football prodigy Lamine Yamal, this was a historic match-he became the eighth youngest goalscorer in World Cup history, surpassing his predecessor Lionel Messi. Only seven players younger than him have scored at the World Cup, including Pelé, who netted a goal at 17 years and 239 days old.

Belgium held to a draw by Iran

In the second match, Belgium and Iran's game at the SoFi Stadium ended in a goalless 0:0 draw, though not without drama. Belgium dominated clearly, with 23 shots (7 on target) to Iran's 7 (3 on target), and the xG difference was equally telling: Belgium 1.82, Iran 0.63.

The match's flow was significantly affected by 23-year-old Nathan Ngoy's red card-the Belgian defender brought down the opposing attacker as the last defender to prevent a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. It appeared Iran would score from the resulting penalty: the ball was played to Mehdi Taremi, who struck it into the bottom right corner, but minutes later the referee disallowed the goal for offside. Iran's goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand saved his team multiple times in difficult situations, including a five-yard save from De Cuyper. After two rounds, Belgium have only two points, but since no other group has opened its win tally yet, the situation is not hopeless.

Cape Verde's miracle continues

Night matches provided football exotica in the Uruguay versus Cape Verde encounter, where Cape Verde earned a second consecutive point. This is a remarkable achievement for a small island nation's football team in one of the tournament's strongest groups. Elsewhere, Egypt defeated New Zealand.

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