World Cup 2026: Uruguay and Colombia Set for Heated Clash at Montevideo

Uruguay vs Colombia

Uruguay and Colombia continue their World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign against each other when these two sides renew their hostilities at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo on Friday night.

Los Cafeteros are the second seed with 19 points, while La Celeste are right behind them in third with 16 points. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, these two sides are expected to book their tickets to the USA soon because of their decent run of World Cup 2026 results.

Because of their history against each other, especially recently, SBOTOP football fans will watch this game with great interest since it is a battle of bragging rights.

Which team do you think will come out on top this Friday? Without further ado, continue reading below for the preview of his highly anticipated contest.

 

Talking Points

Uruguay need to solve their shooting woes

Save for a pair of penalty shootout victories against Brazil and Canada in the Copa America, Uruguay are winless in their last eight games and haven’t scored a single goal in their last four World Cup 2026 qualifiers.

Leeds United fans would know this, but scoreless outings shouldn’t be the norm for a Marcelo Bielsa-coached squad, so they have work to do ahead of Friday in front of goal.

Bielsa hopes that Darwin Nunez will regain his shooting boots with La Celeste after the Liverpool man scored his first Premier League goal since late September during the Reds’ 2-0 victory over Aston Villa last time out. Overall, Nunez now has three club goals this season.

Besides Nunez, Uruguay will need production from Facundo Pellistri, Maximiliano Araujo, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Fede Valverde, while they will be pleased with the form that Manuel Ugarte is in recently.

Ugarte, who joined Manchester United this summer, has formed a rock-solid midfield partnership with Casemiro. The 23-year-old will take care of the defencive duties in the middle of the park, so Valverde or Bentancur can roam freely and weave their magic.

 

Rodriguez can regain his mojo with Colombia

A recent report from Marca claims that James Rodriguez is becoming “increasingly frustrated” at Rayo Vallecano since he hasn’t played as many minutes as expected.

Rayo Vallecano head coach Inigo Perez has preferred to use Jorge de Frutos, Isi Palazon, or Alvaro Garcia, so James Rodriguez should play with a chip on his shoulder, which means bad news for Colombia’s opponents.

Unlike Uruguay, confidence is high for Colombia because they’re coming off a 4-0 win over Chile last month in a game that featured four goal scorers.

Defender Davinson Sanchez opened the scoring in the 34^th minute, and Luis Diaz, Jhon Duran, and Luis Sinisterra added three goals in the second half.

Head coach Nestor Lorenzo will likely keep the same starting XI that he had against Chile, with James Rodriguez, Jhon Cordoba, and Luis Diaz starting up front and Jhon Duran providing the spark off the bench, which is the same as his current role at Aston Villa.

 

History

Uruguay plan to put an end to their four-game winless run against Colombia this weekend (D2, L2). And when these two sides last met, tempers flared in North Carolina.

Colombia narrowly defeated Uruguay 1-0 during their last encounter at the Copa America semi-finals, as Jefferson Lerma scored the marginal goal in the 39^th minute. Daniel Munoz and Guillermo Varela were sent off in the second half.

The game featured a significant brawl between players from both teams in the center of the field, and it spilled over from the stands after the game as Darwin Nunez, Ronald Araujo, and Jose Maria Gimenez climbed into the stands to confront Colombian fans.

The CONMEBOL strongly condemned the violent incident between Uruguayan players and Colombian fans via a statement, and hopefully that won’t happen again on Friday.

 

Betting Tip

The World Cup 2026 odds expect nothing less than a close match between Uruguay and Colombia this weekend. Because they’re playing at home, La Celeste have the slight edge at 2.20 to win, whereas Los Cafeteros aren’t far behind at 3.31, and a draw is at 2.90 in the 1X2 market.

Save for their 2-2 draw in their reverse fixture here in the qualifiers, matches between Uruguay and Colombia have been mostly low-scoring, and we believe that such a trend should continue this Friday.

A Correct Score of 1-0 in favour of Colombia – the result of their previous meeting – is on offer at 7.50, while a goalless draw is priced at 6.40. Total Goal 0-1 is also worth considering given its 2.28 offer.

   

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