Uruguay will carry a superstar attack with them to the 2018 World Cup with them and they will be having high hopes of producing a solid campaign. They were comfortable in their qualification campaign and with the talent that is running through their squad, a quarter final berth shouldn’t be too far out of the picture for them. Do they arguably make the best dark horse shot in the field?
It was pretty comfortable for Uruguay in the CONMEBOL zone as they finished second behind Brazil. It was a big ten points behind Brazil, but nonetheless Uruguay were solid enough to get the job done in the toughest qualification zone in the world. They were impressive in front of goal as you would expect, with only Brazil scoring more than them across their eighteen qualification matches.
Uruguay went W9 D4 L5 in the qualification process and it was just a lack of wins away from home in their tougher matches which is the reason why they were so far back from Brazil. They draw in Brazil and Colombia, lost in Argentina and suffered losses out in Peru and Chile, tough places to go to, but still. But that’s picking holes for a good campaign under head coach Oscar Tabarez.
The thing about La Celeste is that only six FIFA nations to have made it to a World Cup have a smaller population than Uruguay do. For being a World Cup winner, that’s pretty impressive.
Uruguay gets the challenge of Group A at the World Cup which means that they are running alongside hosts Russia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. You would have to say that that is a pretty manageable group for the South Americans, who open against Egypt on June 15th. A good three points in that one should set them up well for a run at winning the group. Uruguay are actually 11/10 favourites at bet365 to win Group A, followed by Russia at 5/4* (all betting odds taken on March 21st, 2018 at 10:44 p.m.).
It’s hard to see that being upset really because Russia are average at best, while Saudi Arabia aren’t likely to present too much of a challenge. Egypt are the interesting ones in the group and have every chance of challenging Russia for qualification. Uruguay and Russia will meet in the final round of matches on June 25th and you can see the South Americans taking that. They are a tough side, well organised and pose a big threat going forward.
Uruguay have Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez leading the line for them and they are a going to cause problems for defences. It’s not the youngest attack and that really runs true with the backbone of their squad. The likes of Cristian Rodriguez, Carlos Sanchez, Maxi Pereira and Diego Godin are all in their thirties. Age won’t be on their side, but that shouldn’t stop them making a good run at winning the group.
The problem for them then becomes the draw as there is no easy path for them to make progress through the tournament. That is because if they qualify from their group then they are, more likely than not, going to meet Spain or Portugal in the round of sixteen. If they go through as group winners then that projects them with a meeting with France in the quarters. It’s a tough draw and they are 11/8 odds to go out at the round of sixteen.* (betting odds taken on March 21st, 2018 at 10:44 p.m.).
Uruguay have a rich history in the World Cup, having won it twice before. The first was in the first ever World Cup in 1930 and then again in 1950 when they upset Brazil. This will be their thirteen appearances in the tournament and they have such a good record. Along with their two titles, they have come home fourth on three other occasions, including that infamous run at South Africa 2010 where you will probably remember that famous Luis Suarez handball against Ghana, who went on to miss their penalty kick and get knocked out. Then there was Suarez’s bizarre bite on Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini four years later. Hopefully, this time around he will be making a positive impressive thanks to his football skills.
With the deadly duo of Cavani and Suarez and Uruguay are going to be a difficult side for anyone to face. Incidentally, they are joint 5/4 favourites to be Uruguay’s top scorer *(betting odds taken on March 21st, 2018 at 10:44 p.m.) at the tournament. Uruguay have a lot of strength, they know how to dig in and scrap things out when they have to as well and on back of a strong qualification campaign, they should be able to win this group. There is enough in the group stage for them to get up a head of steam and they can drive on. There is a tough road ahead for them, winning the group should allow them to get to the quarter-finals slightly easier and back them at 7/2 odds* (betting odds taken on March 21st, 2018 at 10:44 p.m.) to go home then.