Printed On 16 Jun 2026
Maxi Araujo scored a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw for Uruguay of their World Cup opener towards Saudi Arabia, stopping one other beautiful upset in Group H after Spain’s earlier goalless draw with Cape Verde.
The Saudis famously beat Argentina 2-1 of their 2022 event opener, they usually appeared on target for an additional shock, courtesy of Abdulelah Alamri’s Forty first-minute strike, till winger Araujo stepped up 10 minutes from time at Miami Stadium on Monday.
Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa actually considered it as a missed alternative after European champions Spain dropped two factors earlier within the day.
“An opponent we should always have overwhelmed; we gave away minutes within the first half that recommend we didn’t do issues proper,” he mentioned. “We needed to win this match.”
The Inexperienced Falcons finally had goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais to thank for his or her level, which is able to give them confidence they’ll progress to the knockout stage for the primary time since the USA final hosted the World Cup in 1994.
“We have been very drained on the finish, however to play any such recreation with this opponent, and to get some extent, it’s a constructive for us,” mentioned Saudi Arabia coach Georgios Donis.
“I just like the spirit and the eagerness of my gamers, however I believe we’ve the standard to play higher.”
Uruguay, World Cup winners in 1930 and 1950, began the match with the swagger of favourites, and within the fifth minute, left winger Araujo turned on the sting of the field and angled a shot at aim, which Alowais parried away.
However barring a Federico Vinas diving header on the half-hour mark, which Alowais additionally pushed away, the Uruguayans lacked accuracy going ahead and infrequently appeared a bit informal on the again.
Donis had promised his facet can be brave, and their assault sparked into life within the thirty sixth minute, when left-back Moteb Alharbi skipped by the midfield earlier than being cynically lower down 30 metres (about 30 yards) from aim.
Alamri had a shot from the centre of the field properly saved by Fernando Muslera two minutes later, however the Uruguay goalkeeper was powerless to stop the Saudis from going forward quickly afterwards.
Mohamed Kanno obtained on the tip of a Musab Aljuwayr nook, and though Muslera managed to save lots of his highly effective header, Alamri was readily available to faucet the ball into the online.
Bielsa made two adjustments on the break, and Uruguay’s recreation plan instantly appeared extra coherent – getting gamers down the flank to place crosses into the field and producing a string of headers for Alowais to cope with.
Defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte got here inside inches of an equaliser when he beat the Saudi keeper within the sixtieth minute, just for his drilled shot to bounce off the far submit.
Vinas had been Uruguay’s finest aerial menace all recreation, and it was no shock that the breakthrough got here from one in all his headers 10 minutes from full-time.
Alowais once more denied the goal man, however the ball fell straight to Araujo, who did properly to manage it and clip it into the online on the close to submit.
Uruguay poured ahead, in search of a winner in a frenetic end; Federico Valverde and Jose Maria Gimenez coming closest with rasping pictures from both facet of the field, which Alowais did properly to push previous his posts.
“I believe the nerves of the debut labored towards us, as did the necessity to exit and rating,” mentioned Vinas.
“Within the second half, we did a bit extra of what the supervisor needed. I’m pissed off and offended, however as captain, I’m proud of my teammates’ work.”
