Does Portugal take revenge for their World Cup exit in 2018?
On Monday, the second preliminary round matchday at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will already be completed. In this article, we turn our attention to the last match of this round and present information, facts and figures to tip the outcome for the match between Portugal and Uruguay. The Portuguese started the tournament with a full success and could thus already fix their progress on the second matchday.
The two-time world champions from South America struck the aluminium twice and had to settle for a disappointing goalless draw in their opening encounter against South Korea. The pressure on Luis Suarez & Co against the 2016 European champions is enormous. Although a defeat would not be the end of the line, the Celeste would then need help on the last matchday. The South Americans still have it in their own hands, but the bookmakers are predicting a win for CR7 & Co between Portugal and Uruguay. The betting odds for this are just under 2.00, while a win for Uruguay attracts four times the stake.
Portugal – Statistics & current form
After 60 goalless minutes, hardly anyone would have believed in five goals. An even match picked up pace in the final half-hour, with the now-unattached Cristiano Ronaldo becoming the first player to score in five different World Cups. From the penalty spot, he performed confidently and scored his eighth World Cup goal. Fun fact – CR7 scored all his goals in the group stage, he has never scored in a knockout match at the World Cup. The end result was a 3-2 win in which Bruno Fernandes became the first Portuguese since Jose Torres (1966) to record two assists in a World Cup match.
The fearful opponents come from South America
Fernando Santos spoke a few weeks ago that the greatest triumph of the Portuguese football team is yet to come and will be fixed this year. Portugal count themselves among the favourites and can look back on an outstanding attacking department. Rafael Leao, player of the year in the 2021/22 Serie A season, came off the bench and scored just three minutes after coming on.
A win against the Urus and Portugal would already have a ticket to the last 16 in the bag. But this match will by no means be as clear-cut as the bookmakers imagine. Opponents from South America can be categorised as “fearful opponents”, as Portugal have only won one of their last nine matches against South American teams. Therefore, the odds of 2.00 for the prediction of a favourite victory between Portugal and Uruguay are not lucrative.
However, statistics buffs will also enjoy the fact that Portugal have only lost one of their last 13 group games in World Cup history (0:4 against Germany in 2014). Derived from these two number games, the tip “Double Chance X2” is obvious in the duel between Portugal and Uruguay and also provides very interesting betting odds.
Predicted line-up of Portugal:
Diogo Costa – Raphael Guerreiro, Danilo Pereira, Ruben Dias, Cancelo – Otavio, Neves, Silva – Felix, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernandes
Last matches played by Portugal:
World Cup Group H
24/11/2022 – Portugal 3 – 2 Ghana
Friendly matches
18/11/2022 – Portugal 4 – 0 Nigeria
UEFA Nations League A Grp. 2
28/09/2022 – Portugal 0 – 1 Spain
25/09/2022 – Czech Republic 0 – 4 Portugal
13/06/2022 – Switzerland 1 – 0 Portugal
Uruguay – Statistics & current form
At the finish of the South American World Cup qualifiers, Oscar Tabarez’s era as head coach of the national team from Uruguay came to an end. For Luis Suarez, Diego Godin, Fernando Muslera or Edinson Cavani, Tabarez was a kind of second father and mainly responsible for the Celeste’s return to the international top flight. But Tabarez not only had to struggle with health problems, but his way of playing football was no longer modern. Despite enormous qualities in forward play, Uruguay were very careful to play safe defensively and created extremely few scoring opportunities.
Aluminium prevents opening win
With Diego Alonso as his successor, the turnaround succeeded and the World Cup ticket was secured in the last few games. After ten international matches, the former professional (eight international appearances) now has an outstanding average of 2.30 points per game. With 18 goals scored in these ten games, Suarez, Nunez, Cavani & Co are still a little stingy with goals.
However, in the 0-0 draw against South Korea, it was clear that the style has changed. Even without goals, this was a lively game with opportunities on both sides, and twice aluminium prevented the Sky Blues from taking the lead. The defence hardly let anything go and goalkeeper Sergio Rochet was able to keep a clean sheet on his World Cup debut. It was Uruguay’s fifth World Cup group game in a row without conceding a goal, six times in World Cup history no team has managed to do so. With Portugal’s offensive power, however, this is hardly conceivable, but since Uruguay also flashed their offensive qualities several times against South Korea, a prediction on goals from both teams is an interesting option between Portugal and Uruguay.
The missed opening win is no cause for concern for the South Americans; only once in the last eight appearances has a full success been achieved in the first game, yet in the seven other World Cup appearances they have reached the last 16 five times.
Predicted line-up of Uruguay:
Rochet – Olivera, Gimenez, Godin, Caceres – Vecino, Bentancur, Valverde – Nunez, Suarez, Pellistri
Last matches played by Uruguay:
World Cup Group H
24/11/2022 – Uruguay 0 – 0 South Korea
Friendly matches
27/09/2022 – Uruguay 2 – 0 Canada
23/09/2022 – Iran 1 – 0 Uruguay
12/06/2022 – Uruguay 5 – 0 Panama
06/06/2022 – USA 0 – 0 Uruguay
Portugal – Uruguay Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
The first two duels between the two teams by no means serve as a yardstick for the 2022 clash in Qatar. In 1966 and 1972, the two teams played a friendly match, with Portugal winning the first match and the second ending in a draw. The last meeting was not so long ago – at the last World Cup in Russia, Uruguay eliminated the Portuguese side 2-1 in the last 16, with Edinson Cavani, now a Valencia legionnaire, scoring a brace to win the match.
Portugal – Uruguay tip
Why are low odds offered between Portugal and Uruguay for betting on Ronaldo & Co? A question that cannot really be answered. The momentum is certainly in favour of the Europeans, who can go into this match with the confidence of an opening win. Qualitatively, a slight advantage can be seen with the 2016 European champions, as Portugal has even more quality to offer, especially across the board. The Celeste squad is aging in some positions (Suarez, Godin, Caceres, Cavani,…), but has a lot of experience and young, hungry top players (Nunez, Valverde, Bentancur,…).
Furthermore, the South Americans destroyed the Portuguese’s World Cup dream four years ago and also came out on top then as supposed underdogs. Betting on the win in the three-way market is certainly risky, but odds on Double Chance X2 and Draw No Bet 2 between Portugal and Uruguay also carry plenty of value. The best betting option is considered to be on both teams to score.
