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Throwback to Laliga 2015/16 when Luis Suarez was able to beat Cristiano Ronaldo for the Golden Boot in the last league game of the season. After 5 years now both are struggling to even find a single goal. They were part of the two greatest duo football has ever seen, BBC (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano) and MSN (Messi, Neymar, Suarez).

Now again this year in the Qatar World Cup 2022, they will be locking horns against each other. It will be a nostalgic moment for both Barca and Real Madrid fans. Talking about the team, both teams have struggled during the qualifiers and their last international break didn’t go according to plan. Uruguay lost to the Asian underdogs Iran and Portugal got disqualified from the Nations League.

Alongside, the mentioned names, Ghana and South Korea are also in Group H. Ghana might be looking for revenge against Uruguay for the incident in the 2010 world cup in which Luis Suarez blocked the goal by hand and prevented the ball from going in. It led to the match being drawn and Uruguay later went on to win on penalties. South Korea is the strongest Asian nation in the cup so they are also a great force. They knocked out Germany from the World Cup last time. Who knows they might do it this time as well.

Here today let’s discuss which team from the two, Uruguay and Portugal has the better chance of winning against one another. Read ahead for the given football prediction.

Uruguay

The veteran Galatasaray man, Fernando Muslera with 130 appearances for the two-time world champion will be the mainstay at the goal followed by Sergio Rochet and Sebastian Sosa.

Uruguay has a backline consisting of Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez. Ronald Arujo who is the prominent center-back of Barcelona might have to adjust to the position of Right-Back. Those three are ably backed up by Sebastian Coates, Martin Caceres, and Guillermo Varela.

Serie A Players Mathias Olivera and Mathias Vina are the two prominent choices for the left-back position. The headman wants to rotate them throughout the cup.

And for midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Torreira will likely start will a more defensive role. Federico Valverde has been shining high for Real Madrid and will probably be used for a more advanced position considering his club-level form. Matias Vecino will again start alongside Valverde in the same advanced position just on the opposite side of the pitch.

Alonso might have the luxury of having veterans and legends of the game like Edison Cavani and Luis Suarez in the squad. Alongside them, he also has the young blood of Darwin Nunez. The presence of Maxi Gomez, Facundo Pellistri, Agustin Canobbio, and Facundo Torres makes them even stronger.

• Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera, Sergio Rochet, Sebastian Sosa
• Defenders: Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez, Ronald Araujo, Sebastian Coates, Martin Caceres, Mathias Olivera, Matias Vina, Guillermo Varela, Josa Luis Rodríguez.
• Midfielders: Manuel Ugarte, Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Matias Vecino, Lucas Torreira, Nico de la Cruz, Giorgian de Arrascaeta.
• Forwards: Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Darwin Nunez, Maxi Gomez, Facundo Pellistri, Agustin Canobbio, Facundo Torres.

Did you know?

Uruguay has four stars on their National Jersey even though they have won the tournament just two times(1930 & 1950) because FIFA considered the 1924 and 1928 Olympics as the official football world tournament and Uruguay was able to win them both.

Portugal

The team led by one of the greatest players of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo looks like a complete team but it can’t perform like one. The main blame goes to the man Santos, Head Coach of Portugal. His tactics seem to have been outdated for today’s world. Santos had a squad that contained Cancelo, Dalot, Dias, Pepe, Fernandes, and Ronaldo himself yet he couldn’t make them qualify directly for the cup.

It is unknown who will be the main keeper in the world cup it might be either Rui Paricio the experienced one or Diogo Costa, the rising Porto Goal Keeper. Jose Sa likely will be the third choice.

Portugal has a quality of full-backs like Cancelo, Dalot, and Nuno Mendes who are a starter for their respective club. Pepe and Ruben Dias might be the starting pair of center back and others might be their backup.

Ruben Neves will likely start in the CDM position with Bernardo Silva as a central Midfielder while Fernandes will play the most offensive midfield position. Cristiano is a guaranteed starter at ST with Otavio and Leao as the wingers in the absence of Diego Jota.

• Goalkeepers: Jose Sa, Rui Patricio, Diogo Costa.
• Defenders: Joao Cancelo, Diogo Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Danilo Pereira, Antonio Silva, Nuno Mendes, Raphael Guerreiro.
• Midfielders: William, Ruben Neves, Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Otavio, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Mario.
• Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Ricardo Horta, Andre Silva, Goncalo Ramos.

Football Prediction (Portugal vs Uruguay)

Portugal 3 – 0 Uruguay

Since Portugal has a better squad (although underperforming), we believe they will peak at the right time and will win the group game easily.  Although Diego Godin is experienced he will really hard time against Cristiano Ronaldo and the pace of Joao Felix will be nowhere near his reach to handle due to his declining physical ability.

Uruguay also doesn’t have that nick in the attack except for Darwin Nunez. The Uruguayan Duo of Cavani and Suarez have grown old. Suarez doesn’t even play in Europe nowadays and Cavani missed also the whole season last time due to an injury.

Portugal’s midfield is also very attacking so it might cause a problem for Uruguay. The hook of Bruno Fernandes and Bernando  Silva will surely create some unbelievable chances for Portugal. Portugal’s fullbacks are also class. They can create so many crosses for the forwards. With an aging team and no new talents, it seems like Portugal might come heavy on Uruguay unless things go severely wrong.

For Uruguay to win, it must be through Individual brilliance rather than team efforts. Uruguay has a lot of match-winners who can turn the game in a matter of moments. Uruguayan players are known to set up in big moments.

Nobody can forget Luis Suarez in El Classico, Cavani at Man United’s 2020/21 Europa run, and Valverde’s assist to Vinicius in the final of the Champions League. These guys are the X-factors for the game. Uruguay’s experience might also come in handy for them as many of their players have already participated in the previous edition of the world cup.

Head to Head (All-Time)

Portugal -1 Win

Uruguay -1 Win

Draw -1

Head to Head since the 2000s

Portugal 0 – 1 Uruguay

Uruguay won the world cup game against Portugal in the round of 16 of the last world cup by a margin of 2 -1. It was the only win of Portugal over Uruguay in the history of recorded football.

Portugal’s Form in the last six matches:

D.W.W.L.W.L

Uruguay’s Form in the last six matches:

W.W.D.W.L.W.

Although Uruguay’s form seems nice, the biggest opponent Uruguay faced was Mexico. Although they won that match they lost against Iran and drew against the USA. The three of them are the only world cup-qualified teams Uruguay faced in which they won a game, lost another, and drew one. Since these opponents are the minnows in the tournament no way we can consider Uruguay’s form as good.

Portugal like Uruguay also has a bad run of form but they have actually played some quality opponents. The only team they played during that period who were not qualified was the Czech Republic. Although form might not be on Portugal’s side, they look way too strong to lose to Uruguay due to their strength, agility, and speed. The Uruguayans in no way will be able to match the speed of Portugal’s young wingers, fullbacks, and midfielders. So we believe it to be a smooth win for the European nation.

The match will take place on November 28th, 2022, at Lusail Stadium. Follow SportsMundial.com for similar football predictions.