Uruguay 2-1 South Korea: What’s your prediction?
1930 and 1950 winners, Uruguay, will take on South Korea in their World Cup Group H opener on Thursday.
Uruguay, a nation of only 3.5 million people, have a knack of causing upsets and making extended runs during their 14 appearances in the tournament, making them wildcards each time, and a team big names hope to avoid.
South Korea, however, will be boosted with the assurance of talisman Son Hueng-min's availability for the opener and will hope to ride on the winning wave that Asian teams have conjured.
When?
24th November, 07:00 pm, Bangladesh time
Where?
Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan, Qatar
Head-to-head
Matches 8
Uruguay 6
South Korea 1
Draw 1
Key stats:
* Uruguay, champions at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and again in 1950, are at their 14th World Cup.
* Uruguay have reached the knockout stages in their last three appearances after failing to qualify in 2006 and reached the quarter-finals in Russia four years ago.
* South Korea, who are at their 10th consecutive World Cup and 11th overall, failed to get out of their group in the last two editions of the tournament.
* South Korea's best performance at the World Cup was reaching the semi-finals in 2002, where they lost to Germany.
* Uruguay failed to win their opening match in six of their last seven World Cup appearances (L-3, D-3), but won all three of their group games in Russia in 2018 without conceding a goal.
* South Korea have not won their opening game at the last two editions of the World Cup (L-1, D-1) and have won two of their last nine World Cup matches (L-5, D-2). Their last victory was a stunning 2-0 upset of defending champions Germany in 2018.
Previous meetings: The two countries have met eight times, with Uruguay winning six, including two at the World Cups in 1990 and 2010. Korea won their only game against Uruguay in their most recent encounter in a friendly in 2018.
Prediction: Uruguay 2-1 South Korea
Probable lineups
Uruguay: (4-3-3) Sergio Rochet (GK), Martin Caceres, Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez, Mathias Olivera, Rodrigo Bentancur, Facundo Pellistri, Matias Vecino, Federico Valverde, Luis Suarez, Darwin Nunez
South Korea: (4-2-3-1) Kim Seung-gyu (GK), Kim Moon-hwan, Kim Min-jae, Kim Young-gwon, Kim Jin-su, Jung Woo-young, Hwang In-beom, Lee Jae-sung, Na Sang-ho, Hwang Ui-jo, Son Heung-min
Following is a statbox on Uruguay at the World Cup.
FIFA ranking: 14
Odds: 50/1
Previous tournaments:
Uruguay won the inaugural World Cup in their capital Montevideo in 1930 and lifted it again in 1950 by upsetting hosts Brazil. After failing to qualify for three out of four World Cups between 1994 and 2006 and exiting at the group stage in the other, Uruguay reached the semi-finals in 2010 - the furthest they had gone since 1970. More recently, they lost to Colombia in the last 16 in 2014 and fell to eventual champions France in the quarter-finals in Russia four years ago.
How they qualified:
Uruguay's gruelling 18-round qualification campaign began with long-serving coach Oscar Tabarez in charge and ended under Diego Alonso, who sealed their World Cup place after presiding over four straight wins since taking over in December.
Tabarez was undone by a combination of injuries and a punishing run of fixtures - Uruguay suffered heavy defeats away to Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia in a four-game losing streak before getting back on track under Alonso.
Veteran forward Luis Suarez top-scored with eight goals as Uruguay won eight games and netted 22 times but conceded just as many, finishing third behind Brazil and Argentina.
Form guide:
Uruguay saw off Mexico 3-0, played out a 0-0 draw with the United States and thrashed Panama 5-0 in June to continue their unbeaten run under Alonso. They lost 1-0 against Iran - their first defeat under the new coach - before beating Canada 2-0 in their September friendlies.
Following is a statbox on South Korea at the World Cup.
FIFA Ranking: 28
Odds: 250-1
Previous tournaments:
South Korea are appearing at their 10th consecutive World Cup and 11th in total, having qualified for every finals since 1986. Their best performance came in 2002 when, as co-hosts with Japan, Guus Hiddink led the country to the semi-finals, where they lost to Germany. They again advanced to the knockout rounds in 2010, when they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Uruguay.
How they qualified
South Korea had few issues advancing from a relatively unchallenging group in the third phase of Asia's preliminaries, winning eight and drawing one of their first nine qualifiers to secure their place at the finals.
Form guide
South Korea have suffered inconsistent form since qualifying for the World Cup, slipping to a heavy 5-1 loss against Brazil in June while drawing with Costa Rica and defeating Cameroon in September. A second-string side lost 3-0 to Japan at the East Asian Championship in July.
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