World Cup

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World Cup | Group Stage

Nov 24, 2022 at 1pm UK

Uruguay
0 - 0
South Korea

Caceres (57')

Kyu-Sung (88'), Bento (90+8')

World Cup 2022: Reasons for Uruguay to be confident of beating South Korea

By Ben Sully | 23 November 2022

Ahead of Uruguay's World Cup opener against South Korea, Sports Mole looks at three reasons why the South Americans will be confident of securing a win.

For the second time in history, Uruguay are set to participate in a fourth consecutive World Cup, and they will begin their campaign against South Korea at the Education City Stadium on Thursday.

Uruguay have fared well in the group stage in recent tournaments after reaching the knockout rounds in each of the last three World Cup finals.

The two-time winners of football's most prestigious tournament will be keen to claim all three points against South Korea ahead of a meeting with Portugal on matchday two.

Here, Sports Mole looks at three reasons why the South Americans will be confident of beginning their campaign with a victory.

Previous World Cup success against South Korea

Luis Suarez in action for Uruguay on September 27, 2022 © Reuters

Thursday's opener represents the third time that Uruguay and South Korea will face one another at the World Cup, and the two previous results both favoured the South Americans.

In their four games at the 1990 World Cup, Uruguay secured their sole win of that tournament against South Korea thanks to Daniel Fonseca's 91st-minute winner for a 1-0 victory.

A familiar face made the difference 20 years later, when Luis Suarez scored a brace at the 2010 tournament to guide his nation to a 2-1 victory that helped them top the group.

They went on to finish in fourth place in South Africa, and although 12 years have passed, Suarez could feature once again after being included in the Uruguay squad.

Successful calendar year

Uruguay boss Diego Alonso on September 27, 2022 © Reuters

After losing their last four games of 2021, Uruguay have turned a corner this year, winning eight of their nine internationals.

The first four of those victories took place in the backend of their World Cup qualifying campaign, which culminated with a 2-0 away victory over Chile in March.

Since that win, Uruguay have played six friendlies in preparation for the tournament in Qatar, and they can draw inspiration that they have beaten two nations who will be present at the World Cup after thrashing Mexico 3-0 in June and claiming a 2-0 victory over Canada in their most recent fixture.

Their only defeat this year took place in Austria where they lost 1-0 to Iran following Mehdi Taremi's winner, which represented just the second goal that Uruguay have conceded in 2022, and their strong defence could give them the base to continue their fine form against South Korea.

Encouraging recent World Cup form

While they have proven to be a tough team to beat this year, Uruguay can also draw inspiration from the fact that they have won six of their last eight matches at the World Cup.

Their encouraging run of results on the biggest stage began with consecutive victories over England and Italy in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup before they were knocked out at the last 16 by Colombia.

In Russia, they secured 1-0 victories over Egypt and Saudi Arabia before they swept aside the hosts by a 3-0 scoreline to finish the group stage with maximum points.

Edinson Cavani will also be present in Qatar, and he was the man to score a brace to guide his nation to a 2-1 victory against Portugal four years ago that secured Uruguay's progression to the quarter-finals where they were beaten by eventual winners France.