Spain extended their unbeaten streak in competitive fixtures to 32 matches during their World Cup opener last week.

And yet, it was hard not to see La Roja’s scoreless draw against debutant Cape Verde — the third-least-populated country to ever qualify for the World Cup — as a disastrous start for Spain, who entered ranked second in the FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings.

The Spaniards will look to reestablish themselves as threats when they continue Group H play against Saudi Arabia on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.

Spain (0-0-1, 1 point) controlled their opening match, holding 65% of the possession, a 27-6 edge in shots and 7-1 in shots on net.

Defender Marc Cucurella chose to focus on the upside of starting with a performance like this.

“I think it’s good that it happened to us in the first match,” Cucurella said. “Because maybe it happens to you in another round and you go home.”

The addition of teenage star Lamine Yamal off the bench in the 71st minute, returning from a hamstring injury, transformed the attack. But even he couldn’t break through for Spain, who failed to win their World Cup opener for the fourth time in the last five trips.

It sounds like Yamal will once again be limited on Sunday as the team is playing the long game for what they hope will be a stretch of eight games this summer.

“I feel good physically, I’m ready for whatever the boss wants,” Yamal said Friday in a Spanish television interview. “It’s very early, it’s unnecessary (to play 90 minutes). I have a process of adaptation. It isn’t the moment to play a full game but I’ll play the minutes the boss wants.”

Saudi Arabia (0-0-1, 1 point) enter this match ahead of Spain via the goals scored tiebreaker. The Green Falcons did not have the same problem scoring in their opener against Uruguay, leading for nearly 40 minutes after Abdulelah Al-Amri’s late-first-half goal.

But a late equalizer from Uruguay kept Saudi Arabia from taking early command of the group with their second straight upset to begin a World Cup after the 2022 Argentina stunner.

In the end, Saudi Arabia, who trailed Uruguay 1.72-0.66 in expected goals, were likely satisfied with the draw, even though they blew a lead.

“When we’re faced with certain opponents, getting one point is a positive event and this is a booster for our psychology,” Saudi Arabia manager Georgios Donis said after the match. “Currently I’m trying to learn my team. I’m trying to learn my players and get to know them.”

Both draws leave all four Group H teams on one point entering a critical second matchday.

A win in either of the next two matches would likely be enough for Saudi Arabia to advance to the knockout stage for the first time since their World Cup debut in 1994. However, that may not be an easy task for a team that has won only two total matches in their six World Cup appearances since 1994.

–Group G, Belgium vs. Iran in Inglewood, Calif.: Belgium, looking to return to the knockout stage after missing it in 2022, opened with a somewhat surprising 1-1 draw with Egypt. Iran, who rallied twice for an opening 2-2 draw against New Zealand, are seeking their first-ever knockout stage appearance.

–Group H, Uruguay vs. Cape Verde in Miami Gardens, Fla.: Likely the top storyline from the opening set of matches, Cape Verde have another tough test as they seek their first World Cup victory. Uruguay look to do what Spain couldn’t and take care of business against an overmatched team on paper.

–Group G, New Zealand vs. Egypt in Vancouver: Neither New Zealand nor Egypt have ever won a match at the World Cup, let alone advance out of a single group stage. A win by either would move them to the brink of clinching a spot.

–Field Level Media

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Saturday that he will undergo back surgery on the team’s Thursday off-day, one day before the start of a three-game series with the visiting Chicago Cubs.

Murphy also is slated to undergo hip surgery on July 13 at the start of the All-Star break. He said he doesn’t expect either procedure to cause him to miss any games.

Murphy said the back being severely acting up earlier this month when the team was playing the Athletics in Las Vegas. He underwent an MRI exam last Sunday and was diagnosed with a ruptured disc.

Murphy, 67, said the pain is intense. He recently described it as shooting pain through his leg and back when trying to stand up.

“I can’t live like that,” Murphy told reporters. “… I’m having the surgery so it works out good.”

The two-time National League Manager of the Year jokingly said, “So I’ll have that on Thursday. And I’ll be fine by Friday. Jumping jacks by Saturday.”

Murphy said the back pain is related to the hip issue. He was dealing with hip pain during the 2025 season as well.

Murphy is in his third season as Brewers manager and guided the club into the postseason in each of the two first campaigns while winning the top manager award both seasons.

Milwaukee leads the National League Central with a 45-29 record despite falling 4-3 to the host Atlanta Braves on Saturday. Ozzie Albies of the Braves hit a walk-off two-run homer.

Murphy is 235-163 with the Brewers. He also served as interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015 and went 42-54.

–Field Level Media

Wyndham Clark has a reputation he wants to shake.

Clark outlasted Rory McIlroy to win the 2023 U.S. Open. But just last year at the same championship, he was banned from Oakmont Country Club after destroying a locker in anger when he missed the cut.

Clark is back on the upswing of navigating a fiendish setup at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. He made a magnificent eagle at No. 16 and posted an even-par 70 Saturday to give himself a six-shot cushion entering the final round of the U.S. Open in Southampton, N.Y.

“It was very up and down, holy smokes,” Clark said after he could be heard criticizing his play more than once on the telecast. “I hit some good shots; I hit some terrible shots. Yeah, I was a little frustrated with myself with some of the execution.”

Coming off a bogey at the previous hole, Clark hit the peak of his round at the par-5 16th. From the fairway, 275 yards from the pin, Clark struck a 3-wood that avoided a greenside bunker and settled 4 feet from the hole for eagle.

That boosted him from 6 under par to 8 under, and even after pushing his par putt at No. 18 past the cup, Clark made himself difficult to catch at 7-under 203.

“I feel like I’m trying to get more consistent. That’s something I’ve always wanted to be, and I think I’m trending in that direction,” Clark said. “Today was very volatile. Hopefully tomorrow it can be definitely a little more low-key, and hopefully I can play some boring golf.”

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be Clark’s biggest threat after a back-nine rally got him back into the championship. He made four birdies on the back, including three in a row for the first time at a U.S. Open, and shot 69 to get to 1 under for the week.

Tied with Scheffler for second are Sahith Theegala (70), Sam Stevens (72) and South Korea’s Tom Kim (72).

Scheffler turns 30 on Sunday and would complete the career Grand Slam with a victory. He’ll tee off in the final pairing with Clark.

“We’ve been battling hard for a few days, and I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “I’ll need a really nice round tomorrow if I’m going to try and catch Wyndham.”

Scheffler had one of only two sub-70 rounds on a day where the scoring average settled at 73.62, the highest of the week so far. Earlier Saturday, Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo shot a 3-under 67 featuring four straight birdies at Nos. 6-9, climbing to even for the championship.

Tied with Grillo at even are Keith Mitchell (70), Sam Burns (71) and Xander Schauffele (73).

Clark began the day with a four-shot lead but saw that cut in half in short order. Stevens birdied the first hole to reach 4 under, and Clark’s approach at No. 1 rolled down the false front of the green, leading to a three-putt bogey.

He got it back with a birdie at No. 5, then scrambled for pars at Nos. 6 and 7.

“The one on 7, I was into the grain, I didn’t hit the best of chips, but it looked like I hit it to 4 feet, which is normally good,” Clark explained. “But that putt was diabolical, and I could three-putt from there, it was so sloped. The fact I made that one was huge.”

At No. 8, Clark was heard on the broadcast apparently calling it the “worst shot of my life” when his approach bounced into a front-right bunker, leading to a bogey. He went birdie-bogey at Nos. 14-15 before the eagle gave him a massive boost.

Scheffler began his day bogey-bogey and parred his way through the rest of the front nine. His patience was rewarded with a straightforward birdie at No. 10 before the shot of the day, a chip-in birdie from 65 feet away at No. 15.

His approach, like many others throughout the round, rolled off the firm green and down a slope. Scheffler pitched his third shot at No. 15 on a tight line and gave an unusually emphatic fist pump and “Let’s go!” when it dropped.

“At that point I’m still over par for the tournament, staring at a pretty tough up-and-down,” he said later. “So to steal a shot there at least is a pretty good feeling.”

He followed that with 12-foot and 13-foot birdie putts to climb to 2 under before bogeying No. 17.

Theegala’s round of 70 featured exactly one bogey and one birdie, the latter coming at No. 18 when his approach sat down 12 inches from the cup.

“I think the first, I don’t know, 9 to 12 holes (on Sunday), I can’t even worry about what Wyndham is doing,” said Theegala, eyeing his first major. “It just requires so much mental energy to play each and every hole out there. …

“The goal is to put yourself in position come back nine on Sunday, and then that’s when you can start leaderboard watching and kind of see what the lead is at.”

–Field Level Media