will host Chile in the first round of 2026 World Cup qualifying on Friday night. The tournament is being held at Uruguay's historic home, Estadio Santanio. Both teams are expected to make the qualifying rounds as South America may now have seven countries that will be represented at the 2026 World Cup.
For Uruguay, going through the CONMEBOL qualifiers again will take them to their fifth consecutive World Cup final. In each of the qualifiers for the 2002 to 2014 World Cups, Uruguay finished fifth in the play-offs, meaning they had to play in the intercontinental play-offs on each occasion - in which they lost to Australia in 2006.
However, their last two qualifiers have been much more impressive, impressively finishing second and third in the qualifiers in 2018 and 2022, respectively, to reach the World Cup finals in Qatar behind Brazil and...
The CONMEBOL qualifiers are said to be fiercely and relentlessly competitive, and any slip-up could be costly, especially at home, which is usually a huge advantage in South America, so it would be a huge disappointment if Uruguay didn't win in their opening match.
Uruguay remain unbeaten in 2023 as they beat South Korea, Nicaragua and Cuba in quick succession after a draw against Japan, the last two of which came under new head coach Bielsa.
Bielsa is tasked with returning Uruguay to the competitiveness of the 2010s, when they were surprisingly eliminated at the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar. A two-time World Cup winner, Uruguay suffered badly long after the 1970 semifinals, winning just one final in the next 40 years.
However, for a country like Uruguay, their performances in the 2010 semi-finals, 2014's 'Group of Death' where they came out on top of Italy and the quarter-finals of the 2018 tournament were very impressive. However, their performance in Qatar fell well short of expectations, leading to Diego Alonso losing his job and opening the door for Bielsa to return to the international stage, becoming the second non-Uruguayan coach to take over the Uruguayan team after Daniel Passarella in 2000.
Chile will travel to Montevideo with their poor away record, having failed to win any of their last eight away games. Head coach Edoardo Berizzo will have to change that form if they want to compete for a place in the qualifiers, as they have failed to reach the final twice in a row.
They have won just four of their last two qualifiers, a major factor in their inability to progress. They drew hosts Brazil in the knockout stages of the 2014 World Cup before winning two consecutive titles in 2015 and 2016, and the light** of those days is now far behind them.
In the quarterfinals of the 2016 Copa America, they thrashed Mexico 7-0 and managed to win the title by defeating Argentina again on penalties in the final.
However, Argentina, and prevented Chile from reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia on the final day of qualifying, which led to a sharp decline for the Chilean team. They ended their final 2022 qualifying match with a home loss to Uruguay, earning just 19 points from 18 matches, but they still finished the tournament in seventh place, a position that would have earned them a bye in this qualifying tournament.
Overall, we expect Uruguay to beat Chile 2-0 in this match. Uruguay have never lost to Chile at home in an international match and they are confident of continuing that record. Despite injuries to some of their key players, Chile have improved their performance in 2023, maintaining their unbeaten record to start the year, but they will be under immense pressure in away games as they have never won in Uruguay.
