{"id":46724,"date":"2026-06-27T04:20:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/46724\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T04:20:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:20:26","slug":"alex-baenas-lone-goal-sends-spain-past-uruguay-into-world-cup-knockouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/46724\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Baena\u2019s lone goal sends Spain past Uruguay into World Cup knockouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Spain’s Alex Baena celebrates scoring his side’s opening goal during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Uruguay and Spain in Zapopan, Mexico, on Friday.Natacha Pisarenko\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Spain beat Uruguay 1-0 on Friday to top Group H and reach the knockout stage of the World Cup, with Alex Baena\u2019s first-half strike enough to settle a tense, physical contest and leave Marcelo Bielsa\u2019s side out of the tournament.<\/p>\n

Spain finished with seven points from two wins and a draw, while newcomers Cape Verde claimed the second knockout berth<\/a> after three consecutive draws. Uruguay bowed out with two points, level with bottom-placed Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

Baena broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute when he found space near the edge of the area and drove in a powerful effort that veteran goalkeeper Fernando Muslera failed to hold, the ball slipping from his grasp and trickling into the net.<\/p>\n

It was a costly mistake from Muslera, who was replaced at halftime. The goal came with both Manuel Ugarte and Lamine Yamal down injured as play continued, but Baena kept his focus and Spain took full advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be one of the goals that has made me happiest,\u201d Baena told local TV. \u201cWe knew it was going to be a tough match.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were fighting for their lives, and we were fighting for the top spot. We didn\u2019t show our best form, but we competed very well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Uruguay had begun aggressively, determined to deny Lamine space on the right, with Guillermo Varela and the rest of the defence keeping tight to the 18-year-old.<\/p>\n

Spain mostly threatened from set pieces in the opening half. Pau Cubarsi headed wide from a Baena corner in the 16th minute and missed again from close range four minutes later following another Baena delivery.<\/p>\n

Uruguay\u2019s best first-half chance came after Federico Valverde pressed Rodri into an error in the 27th minute and then found Darwin Nunez inside the area, but the forward chose to attempt a back-heel rather than shoot and the opportunity went begging.<\/p>\n

The second half followed a similar pattern, with Uruguay pushing but lacking precision in the final third. Federico Vinas replaced Valverde and almost made an impact, but his left-footed effort from a Maxi Araujo cross flew high and wide.<\/p>\n

Spain introduced Dani Olmo, who missed a chance from the middle of the box after a cross from Lamine in the 63rd minute, but Luis de la Fuente\u2019s side looked in control.<\/p>\n

Uruguay pressed late, but Simon denied Mathias Olivera and then saved Nicolas de la Cruz\u2019s right-footed shot from outside the box.<\/p>\n

Ferran Torres nearly doubled Spain\u2019s lead when he hit the crossbar with a right-footed effort from just inside the area following a pass from Fabian Ruiz.<\/p>\n

Inside the Guadalajara stadium, Mexican and Spanish fans sang \u201cCielito Lindo\u201d with the chorus \u201csing and do not cry\u201d as Uruguay\u2019s frustration mounted.<\/p>\n

That frustration boiled over in stoppage time when Agustin Canobbio was shown a red card for a reckless challenge on Cubarsi, capping a bitter end to Uruguay\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Spain’s Alex Baena celebrates scoring his side’s opening goal during the World Cup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6970,6961,6971,695,6956,6972,3937,6955,6966,6967,6963,6957,6954,371,859,197,6965,6960,6983,6958,6959,593,6962,1957,697,6973,2998,6978,6979,6981,6976,6980,6974,6977,804,6968,6969,24,6233,6975,17,2735,3043,357,6964,738,394,6982],"class_list":["post-46724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-spain","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}