Saudi Arabia will be looking at another huge World Cup upset against the South American team when they face off Uruguay in their first Group H match.
Although they ultimately failed to get out of their group, Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest shocks in Qatar 2022 World Cup history when they beat Argentina 2-1 in their opening game.
Argentina recovered from that setback to win the cup, but Uruguay will be keen to avoid a similar poor start as they look to qualify for the knockout stages after being eliminated from the group stage in 2022.
While the expansion of the tournament and the qualification spots for the top eight third-place finishers have removed much of the danger from the group stage, Uruguay can still afford to lose their campaign in a group that also features favorites Spain.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side come into the game in poor form, having failed to win any of their last four games, including a 5-1 loss to the USA in that run.
Uruguay have also scored more than one goal in their last seven games, and Bielsa will be under pressure to lead his third South American side (also Argentina and Chile) to his third World Cup, barring an upset against Saudi Arabia.
Bielsa left Uruguay’s record goalscorer Luis Suarez out of his squad for the tournament, having previously faced public criticism from the former Barcelona and Liverpool star.
The goal-scoring burden will be on another former Liverpool forward, Darwin Nunes, although plenty can be expected from Real star Federico Valverde, especially against a Saudi Arabia side whose only win in 2026 so far has come against Puerto Rico.
A 0-0 draw between Saudi Arabia and Senegal in their final warm-up game may have boosted their belief. However, they have scored just two goals apart from the win over Puerto Rico, suggesting they can avenge their 1-0 defeat to Uruguay at the 2018 World Cup.
Team News Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay
Saudi Arabia will be without goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi.
Jose Jimenez (ankle), Ronald Araujo (calf), Georgian de Orasqueta (calf), Mathias Viña (muscle) and Sebastian Caceres (head) are all doubts for Uruguay.
