This thursday's FIFA World Cup 2022 encounter in Group H pits two-time World Cup champions Uruguay against 2002 semifinalist South Korea, with both teams eager to get off to the best possible start. All the eyes will be on English Premier League stars Darwin Nunez and Son Heung-min as they look to prove a point on the world's biggest stage. With Portugal and Ghana as the other nations, Group H is perhaps the Group of Death in the competition this year.
The match will take place at Al Rayyan, Qatar in Education City Stadium. In 2018, Uruguay advanced to the quarterfinals, but this time around, with many of their young players starting to mature, they will be optimistic about outperforming that result. Meanwhile, South Korea will attempt to advance from the group stages since 2010.
Eight international matches between the two countries have taken place, and despite South Korea's most recent victory, Uruguay has consistently outperformed the team from Asia. Against South Korea, Uruguay has won six matches, tied one, and lost once while also winning the two prior World Cup games.
Uruguay Team News
Experienced players like Fernando Muslera, Diego Godin, Martin Caceres, Luis Suarez, and Edison Cavani will be representing Uruguay in their fourth World Cup in Qatar. Other than that likes of Federico Valverde, Darwin Nunez, Nicolas de la Cruz, Facundo Pellistri, Mathias Olivera and Sergio Rochet will be playing their first World Cup and the mixture of youth and experience give Uruguay a huge advantage.
Valverde and Rodrigo Bentacur will be at the heart of the midfield with Jose Gimenez and Sebastian Coates at the center of defence. Start strikers Suarez and Nunez will start upfront for the two-time World Champions.
South Korea Team News
Son Heung-min, the standout player for South Korea, suffered a shattered eye socket during Tottenham's Champions League match against Marseille earlier this month. Although the winger declared himself fit for the World Cup – Korea will be hoping that he unleashes his best form in this encounter. Although there is plenty of experience in this South Korean team but they are heavily dependent on Son.
South Korea has not had much joy since briefly making it past the group stages in the 2010 World Cup because they have failed to go past the group stages of three of the last four tournaments.
Uruguay vs South Korea Prediction
Despite the attacking prowess on display, we do not anticipate this game to be filled with goals. Although South Korea are capable of beating anyone on a given day – but Uruguay have enough strength to take all three points in this encounter. Suarez, Cavani, Godin, and the rest of the old guard are supported by Darwin Nunez and Fede Valverde from the new generation, giving Uruguay a team that can compete at the highest level in Qatar.
Betting tips
Uruguay vs South Korea will be an entertaining encounter but given the firepower Uruguay has – it could end with an easy win for them. For all betting odds come to 22BET. Simply create an account and get things started.
