Uruguay vs Argentina

Uruguay and Argentina go head-to-head in a mouth-watering CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying showdown at the Campeón del Siglo.

Renowned strategist Oscar Tabarez, who has guided Uruguay to last-16 in the last three World Cup finals in a row, risks failing to navigate his side to the final tournament for the first time in his 15-year stint at the helm. Back-to-back three-goal defeats to Argentina and Brazil have seen ‘La Celeste’ slide to sixth in the South American standings, though they are level on points with fifth-placed Colombia. One encouragement ahead of this Clásico del Río de la Plata match-up is that the hosts have gone unbeaten in four consecutive World Cup qualifying fixtures at home (W2, D2), keeping three clean sheets in the process. Worryingly, though, Uruguay have lost four of their last five competitive meetings with Argentina (D1), failing to get on the scoresheet on all five occasions.

In the meantime, a hard-earned 1-0 home win over Peru last time out maintained Argentina’s unbeaten 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign (W7, D4). Alongside Brazil, ‘La Albiceleste’ are one of just two South American teams yet to lose in the ongoing qualifiers, as reaching their 13th consecutive World Cup finals already looks inevitable. Before being held to a scoreless draw to Paraguay in their most recent World Cup qualifying road trip, Lionel Scaloni’s side had netted 2+ goals in their opening four qualifying travels. Yet, their attacking prowess has mainly depended on Lionel Messi, who could be unavailable for this clash due to injury. Messi’s absence should not compromise Argentina’s hopes of extending a resounding 25-match unbeaten run in all competitions, including friendlies and 11 CONMEBOL qualifiers in this campaign.