I only deploy my code once or twice a year. I often forget to create the "signed" APK. When you dont' create a signed APK, you will see the build show up in a "debug" folder.

When you select the signed APK

You will see your build in "release" folder as an .abb file. You want to drag the .abb (for me its the most recent file with no sequence number to the Google Play Console release web page.