Will Saudi Arabia repeat their success from the opening match of the previous World Cup, when they defeated Argentina 2-1? Four years later, they face another CONMEBOL team and a favourite to advance quickly from the group stage—Uruguay.
The two-time world champions from the mid-20th century will be looking for more than just a token appearance, having failed to advance from their group four years ago.
In 2018, they reached the quarterfinals, and in 2010, they finished fourth at the World Cup in South Africa, but that generation of players was on a different level.
Now, not only do they still not look like a fully formed team, but they are also led by a manager who is far from being on good terms with his players. Still, Uruguay remain in 16th place in the world rankings and, on paper, should be able to handle Saudi Arabia without any problems.
The Green Falcons also don’t look in top form, with several factors at play. First and foremost is their poor form since the start of the year, having recorded just one win in five friendly matches.
Looking back further, Saudi Arabia nearly failed to qualify for the World Cup and had to go through four qualifying rounds before succeeding.
Last but not least, they replaced their manager just 59 days before the start of the World Cup. So far, they have played only three friendly matches under Georgios Donis, in which they showed a slight improvement in attack, but it is difficult to give them a concrete assessment.
How the bookies view it: Saudi Arabia will not have the same success this time
The bookmakers aren’t at all keen on the idea of Saudi Arabia winning this match, giving Uruguay a huge advantage. But we’ve already seen some surprises in the early days of the World Cup, and there’s always a chance.
For now, you can bet on Saudi Arabia at 13/2, a draw at 33/10, or Uruguay at 9/20.
Recent head-to-head: Uruguay won eight years ago in Russia
Saudi Arabia and Uruguay have shared some history since the start of the century, as this will be their fourth meeting.
Most importantly, they were in the same group at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, with Uruguay winning 1-0.
And if we go further back in time, they have played two friendly matches, one of which ended in a draw, while the Green Falcons have one victory from 2002 (3-2).
Players to watch: How match fit is Darwin Nunez?
Federico Valverde played his best season for Real Madrid despite the lack of trophies, and will be the player to run things in midfield at the World Cup.
Darwin Nunez was Uruguay’s top scorer in the qualifications with five goals (and two assists) in 13 appearances, and he will lead the attack again. The only problem is that he hasn’t played regularly since February, when Al Hilal left him out of their Saudi Pro League squad due to the local foreign-player quota rules.
But he will also know his opponents well, since he played in Saudi Arabia and has faced most of the players in the national team.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Probable line-ups
Saudi Arabia: Al-Owais, Bu, Lajami, Al Tambakti, Abdulhamid, Kanno, Al-Khaibari, S. Al-Dawsari, N. Al-Dawsari, Al-Juwayr, Al-Buraikan
Uruguay: Muslera, Olivera, Bueno, Caceres, Varela, Araujo, Bentancur, Ugarte, Valverde, Vinas, Nunez
Anything else catch the eye?
Saudi Arabia are investing heavily and working hard to improve, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is only one player on the World Cup squad who plays abroad: Saud Abdulhamid, who plays for Lens.
All the others play in the domestic league, and we can safely say they lack the experience and skill level of most of Uruguay’s players, who compete in Europe’s top five leagues or the strongest teams in South America.
However, given that Uruguay’s players often struggle with Marcelo Bielsa’s demands, we cannot afford to bet heavily on goals. La Celeste are far from being among the highest-scoring national teams in CONMEBOL, and therefore, we believe they will win by a narrow margin.
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