Egypt – Uruguay World Cup 2018

Nickname(s):

Uruguay: La Celeste (The Sky Blue)

Egypt: The Pharaohs

 The road to the World Cup:

Uruguay finished second, after Brazil in the South America qualification group. The two-time world champions won 9 of their games, finish draw in 4 and conceded 5 loses. With 12 goals difference, they are the second best attack in South America. Uruguay has a number of top quality players in their side along with their brilliant strike force.

Egypt has qualified for the FIFA World Cup three times in their history: in 1934, in 1990 and 2018. Egypt was the first African country to qualify for the World Cup. On October 8^th, 2017 Mohamed Salah scored 2 goals against Congo to secure their spot in the finals, the game finished with a dramatic penalty kick in the last minute of the game, which Salah scored. The Pharaohs have never actually won a match in the final tournament, despite they are one of the best African teams with 7 African Cup of Nations trophies. Egypt players will be desperate to become part of Egyptian history this summer!

FIFA Rankings

Uruguay:

• Current – 14
• Highest – 2
• Lowest -55

Egypt:

• Current - 45
• Highest – 9
• Lowest – 75

Coaches & Captains:

Uruguay: Oscar Tabarez & Diego Godin

Egypt: Hector Cuper & Essam El Hadary

Performance and key's players:

Uruguay

Uruguay is favourites to win Group A, but this will no be an easy task. They have to achieve a good result in their first 2 games because the last game they have to face the host Russia. The Sky Blue has very experienced and well-balanced team, with strong players in each line of the defence, midfield, and offence. In the last tournament in 2016(Copa American Centenario) Uruguay could not past the group and was defeated by Mexico and Venezuela. Luis Suarez, Edison Cavani, Diego Godin are the leaders of the team, alongside Maxi Pereira who is the players with most caps for the team. Cavani is having the best season in his career so far and he will be on fire, Suarez is an incredible striker who has a lot to prove on the national stage after his unreasonable actions in the two previous tournaments (handball against Ghana in 2010 and biting Giorgio Chiellini in 2014). Diego Godin will help to tighten the defence and ensure that Uruguay qualify from Group A. Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is definitely one to watch. The 20-year-old could announce himself to the world this summer and will be desperate to grasp onto the opportunity to represent his country.

Egypt

Egypt has a very good chance to past the group stage for first time in their history. For a team which never won a game in the FIFA World Cup tournament, we should say that this is their best chance ever. Mohamed Salah is one of the best players in the world right now, thanks to his performance as Liverpool reach the Champions League final. He also got the Player of the Year award in Premier League. Salah will be the main treatment and the man who will make the difference in Egypt matches. The other player you should pay attention to is Arsenal's player Mohamed Elneny, who will keep the midfield tight and is likely to play an instrumental role against any team who wants to hit Egypt on the counter-attack.

Prediction

Uruguay is the favourite in this game. They have the better attack and a lot more experience on the international stage. Suarez and Cavani are one of the best strikers in the world and definitely, they will score goals. Egypt will start very nervous and they will try to play the ball around Salah and use his speed on the wing. The Pharaohs has a good defence, but we doubt that they will hold the atomic attack of Uruguay. Uruguay will have more chances in the game and we expect them to score goals in both halves. Egypt may score a goal as well, but we don’t think that this will be enough for them to take a point in this game. They will have more chances against Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Uruguay to win (5 points)   ✅

Over 2.5 goals in the game (3 points)  ❌

Uruguay to score in both halves (2 points)  ❌

GOOD LUCK!

ENJOY THE GAME!