Brazil will be bidding to return to winning ways in their 2026 World Cup qualification section when they take on Uruguay in Montevideo on Tuesday night.

The visitors will enter the contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with Venezuela, while Uruguay also shared the points last time out, playing out a 2-2 draw with Colombia in Barranquilla.

Match preview

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Uruguay have been present in each of the last four World Cup finals, finishing fourth in 2010, before making the round of 16 and quarter-finals in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

The Sky Blues were disappointing at the 2022 competition in Qatar, though, failing to make it through the group stage, which is the first time that had occurred since 2002.

Marcelo Bielsa's side have won one, drawn one and lost one of their three 2026 World Cup qualifiers to date, with a total of four points leaving them in fourth position in the table, five points behind the leaders Argentina and three behind Brazil in second ahead of the next set of fixtures.

Uruguay were 3-1 winners over Chile in their campaign opener on September 9, but they then lost away to Ecuador before playing out a 2-2 draw with Colombia last time out.

Bielsa's team were actually minutes away from losing against Colombia, but Liverpool's Darwin Nunez scored a stoppage-time penalty to secure what could prove to be a valuable point for the visitors.

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Brazil, meanwhile, opened their qualification campaign with a 5-1 victory over Bolivia on September 9 before beating Peru 1-0 four days later to move onto six points in the section.

The Selection were unable to make it three wins from three matches, though, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Venezuela on Thursday; Gabriel Magalhaes sent Brazil ahead in the 50th minute, only for Eduard Bello to come up with a leveller for the visitors in the final exchanges.

The Green-Yellows are the most successful team in the history of the World Cup, lifting the trophy on five occasions, but they have largely struggled to impress since last winning the competition in 2002.

Brazil were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2006 and 2010 before finishing fourth in 2014, but they then failed to progress past the quarter-final stage in 2018 and 2022.

Fernando Diniz remains in charge of the national side on a caretaker basis, with Carlo Ancelotti said to be their main target next year, but it remains to be seen whether the Italian will be leaving as Real Madrid boss.

Team News

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Uruguay have not reported any fresh injury concerns from their draw with Colombia, but it is likely that Bielsa will make changes for the contest with the team currently second in the qualification section.

Cristian Olivera and Mathias Olivera were both introduced off the bench against Colombia, and their performances could now see them earn starting roles.

Manchester United's Facundo Pellistri is likely to drop down to the bench, but there will again be starts for Barcelona's Ronald Araujo, Real Madrid's Federico Valverde and Liverpool's Nunez.

As for Brazil, Casemiro was forced off with a knock against Venezuela, meaning that the Man United midfielder is a major doubt for the contest with Uruguay.

Brazil boss Diniz said that the 31-year-old picked up "a blow to his ankle" during the contest, and it would therefore be a surprise to see him involved here.

Gerson, who plays his club football for Flamengo, is likely to be the player to benefit from Casemiro's absence, although Andre is also an option to start alongside Bruno Guimaraes.

Danilo also came off in the first half of the clash with Venezuela after picking up a muscular issue, and it is likely that Yan Couto will now come into the starting side for this contest, with Danilo leaving the camp.

Uruguay possible starting lineup:
Mele; Nandez, R Araujo, Caceres, M Olivera; Ugarte, Valverde; C Olivera, De la Cruz, Rodriguez; Nunez

Brazil possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Couto, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Arana; Guimaraes, Gerson; Rodrygo, Neymar, Vinicius; Richarlison

We say: Uruguay 1-2 Brazil

This has all of the makings of a fascinating match, especially as both sides will be looking to return to winning ways. Uruguay are certainly capable of claiming a positive result on Tuesday, but we just have a feeling that Brazil will be able to navigate their way to an important three points here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Matt Law

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