World Cup what to know: Spain and Belgium are looking for their 1st wins after opening with draws

Sunday’s action features eight teams looking for their first win of this year’s tournament.

Rodri and Spain take on Abdulelah Al-Amri and Saudi Arabia in a Group H game in Atlanta. Romelu Lukaku and Belgium face in Southern California, and New Zealand plays Egypt in another Group G game in Vancouver, British Columbia. Uruguay takes on tiny in the other Group H game.

Each of those eight countries opened , including a scoreless tie for No. 2 Spain against Cape Verde. Al-Amri scored for Saudi Arabia in against Uruguay, and there was another 1-1 stalemate for Egypt versus Belgium. New Zealand played Iran to .

The four draws last Monday were the most in a single day at the men鈥檚 World Cup since 1958. That means Group G and Group H are wide open going into their second day of play.

Spain and Belgium are looking to establish themselves as championship contenders, while a win for Cape Verde would stamp the group of islands off Africa鈥檚 West coast as one of the tournament’s biggest surprises in its World Cup debut.

What to watch on June 21

鈥擲pain vs. Saudi Arabia, 12 p.m. EDT in Atlanta (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

鈥擝elgium vs. Iran, 3 p.m. EDT in Inglewood, California (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

鈥擴ruguay vs. Cape Verde, 6 p.m. EDT in Miami Gardens, Florida (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

鈥擭ew Zealand vs. Egypt, 9 p.m. EDT in Vancouver, British Columbia (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)

Spain provides an update on 18-year-old star forward

Lamine Yamal was the big talking point again for Spain ahead of its game against Saudi Arabia.

Coach Luis de la Fuente was inundated with questions about his star forward and how much of a role he would play after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Yamal was a second-half substitute for Spain鈥檚 draw against Cape Verde, and De la Fuente would not confirm if the 18-year-old winger would start against Saudi Arabia.

鈥淗e鈥檚 feeling well, that鈥檚 the best news,鈥� De la Fuente said. 鈥淭he main thing is that he鈥檚 back … and that he鈥檚 extremely eager to do things well in this championship.鈥�

European champion Spain is one of the World Cup favorites, but it has not advanced beyond the round of 16 since winning the tournament in 2010.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no despair. We are motivated,鈥� De la Fuente said.

Belgium missing key player against Iran

Belgium鈥檚 J茅r茅my Doku will not play against Iran because of an illness. The Manchester City winger has been ruled out for the match at SoFi Stadium.

The speedy Doku started Belgium鈥檚 World Cup opener and played into the 86th minute of its . Doku due to breathing issues during the week before the opening match.

Doku has been in the spotlight in recent days after telling reporters that for the birth of his first child during the World Cup. Doku鈥檚 wife is due in early July, during the knockout stages.

, but it needs a strong result against Iran to stay on track to win its group. The Red Devils finish group-stage play against New Zealand on Friday.

More World Cup news

鈥�

Stats of the day

The Netherlands reached 100 World Cup goals when Brian Brobbey scored twice in the first half of Saturday’s over Sweden. It became the eighth country to hit that milestone, joining Brazil, Germany, Argentina, France, Italy, Spain and England.

___

AP World Cup coverage:

草莓传媒