Uruguay face Portugal in Sochi on Saturday night with both teams looking for the win that’ll take them through to the quarter finals. Both sides came through the group unbeaten, but Uruguay have the better record having won all three games without conceding a game.
In fact, Uruguay are still yet to concede a goal in the tournament, having beaten Egypt 1-0, Saudi Arabia 1-0 and Russia 3-0 in the group stages. They’re many people’s dark horses to win the whole thing and Luis Suarez found some form in the group, finding the back of the net twice. Edinson Cavani has just one so far, but the duo are prolific in front of goal and will panic most of their opponents.
As for Portugal, they were unfortunate against Iran after a shocking VAR decision gave their opponents a penalty for a handball in the box. They drew two of their group games, but beat Morocco 1-0 to get to this stage of the competition and they’re a dangerous team. They’re not particularly pretty to watch, but Fernando Santos is very experienced when it comes to tournament football and knows exactly how to get his teams to win. Ronaldo’s their star player and despite missing a penalty against Iran, he’s still found the back of the net four times in the tournament so far.
Uruguay vs. Portugal Predictions
This game features two very strong defensive teams and this could be a low-scoring one, possibly going to extra time. There’ll be plenty of cards shown. It’s very tough to call between two teams who are both capable of winning the tournament. It might even go to penalties, in which case, Uruguay will just about triumph.
Uruguay vs. Portugal Betting Tips
- 0-0 Exact Score: 11/2
- Fernando Muslera to save a penalty: 19/1
- Under 1.5 total goals: 27/20
- Pepe to receive a card: 2/1
Head to Head
- This will be the third encounter between Uruguay and Portugal and their first at the W. Cup. They haven’t faced each other since July 1972 when they drew 1-1 at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã stadium. Portugal are so far unbeaten in their two previous meetings (W1 D1).
- Penalty shootouts excluded, Portugal have lost only one of their last 17 games at major tournaments (W8 D8), a 4-0 defeat against Germany at the 2014 W. Cup. However, they have lost their last three games in the W. Cup knockout stages (1 goal scored, 5 conceded).
- Since the format of the W. Cup changed in 1986 to include a round of 16, Uruguay have been eliminated on three of the four occasions they’ve reached that stage, losing in 1986, 1990 and 2014, but progressing in 2010 against South Korea.
- Uruguay will be looking to win their opening four games at a W. Cup tournament for only the second time after 1930 when they won the first ever W. Cup.
- Uruguay are yet to concede a single goal at the 2018 W. Cup, facing just six shots on target in three games, the last South American team not to concede in their first four matches of a W. Cup tournament were Brazil in 1986.
- All five of Uruguay’s goals at the 2018 W. Cup have been scored from set-pieces (3 from corners, 1 from direct free kicks and 1 from indirect free kicks). Meanwhile, three of Portugal’s last four goals have come from outside the box.
- Luis Suarez has scored seven W. Cup goals for Uruguay, second only to Oscar Miguez (8). Suarez scored a brace against South Korea in his only previous W. Cup appearance in the round of 16 back in 2010.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has so far failed to score a single goal for Portugal in the knockout stages of the W. Cup: 424 minutes, 0 goals. However, he did score a hat-trick against Spain in his previous game at Sochi’s Fisht Stadium.
- If he plays, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo will equal Bastian Schweinsteiger (38) as the player with the most appearances at W. Cups and European Championships.
- This is Fernando Santos’ fourth major tournament in a row as manager. He’s reached the knockout stages on each previous occasion: Euro 2012 quarter-finals and W. Cup 2014 round of 16 with Greece, Euro 2016 winners and at the very least W. Cup 2018 round of 16 with Portugal.
Uruguay Team News
Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray), Martin Silva (Vasco da Gama), Martin Campana (Independiente), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Coates (Sporting CP), Jose Maria Gimenez (Atletico Madrid), Maximiliano Pereira (Porto), Gaston Silva (Independiente), Martin Caceres (Lazio), Guillermo Varela (Penarol), Nahitan Nandez (Boca Juniors), Lucas Torreira (Sampdoria), Matias Vecino (Inter Milan), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus), Carlos Sanchez (Monterrey), Giorgian De Arrascaeta (Cruzeiro), Diego Laxalt (Genoa), Cristian Rodriguez (Penarol), Jonathan Urretaviscaya (Monterrey), Nicolas Lodeiro (Seattle Sounders), Gaston Ramirez (Sampdoria), Cristhian Stuani (Girona), Maximiliano Gomez (Celta Vigo), Edinson Cavani (PSG), Luis Suarez (Barcelona)
Portugal Team News
Anthony Lopes (Lyon), Beto (Goztepe SK), Rui Patricio (Sporting CP), Bruno Alves (Rangers), Cedric Soares (Southampton), Jose Fonte (Dalian Yifang), Mario Rui (Napoli), Pepe (Besiktas), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Ricardo Pereira (Porto), Ruben Dias (Benfica), Adrien Silva (Leicester City), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting CP), Joao Mario (West Ham), Joao Moutinho (Monaco), Manuel Fernandes (Lokomotiv Moscow), William Carvalho (Sporting CP), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Andre Silva (AC Milan), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson Martins (Sporting CP), Goncalo Guedes (Valencia), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas)