Overview
Nearly four months after the semi-final match at Copa America 2024, Uruguay and Colombia will meet again in the South American qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup.
Uruguay was once highly regarded and considered Argentina's biggest rival in the region. However, after a disappointing Copa America 2024, they have yet to recover.
They have yet to win a game since the 2024 Copa America, drawing three and losing one despite only facing opponents in the bottom half of the table.
That string of poor results saw Uruguay lose their second place to Colombia. Uruguay are currently having major problems with finishing as they have failed to score in their last four matches.
On the coaching bench, coach Marcelo Bielsa is facing terrible pressure. And if he does not get a positive result against Colombia, this strategist could be fired.
As for Colombia, they also could not maintain the high form as when they won the Copa America 2024 runner-up position. This team lost points against weaker opponents such as Peru or Bolivia, but defeated world champion Argentina.
In the most recent match, Colombia destroyed Chile 4-0. However, instability is easily seen with Colombia at the moment. They have only won 1 of their last 5 away matches. Notably, Colombia's loser in that match was Uruguay.
Both Uruguay and Colombia have their own problems. Bielsa will be forced to be cautious and Colombia will also prefer safety. Both teams are well ranked and there is no reason to take risks in this match.
Colombia and Uruguay have had relatively few goals in their matches. The last time the two teams scored more than three goals in a match was in 2016.
In the last time hosting Colombia at home, Uruguay only managed a draw. The last time Uruguay beat Colombia was in 2015.
Expected lineup:
Uruguay: Rochet, Nandez, Bueno, Gimenez, Olivera, Valverde, Ugarte, Pellistri, De Arrascaeta, Araujo, Nunez.
Colombia: Vargas, Arias, Sanchez, Lucumi, Mojica, Rios, Lerma, Diaz, Rodriguez, Arias, Cordoba.
The match between Uruguay and Colombia takes place at 7:00 a.m. on November 16 (Vietnam time).
