Saudi Arabia and Uruguay have named their starting eleven for the opening match of the 2026 World Cup in Miami on Monday night. (Tuesday in Europe)
The Green Falcons pulled off one of the biggest surprises in World Cup history in their first game of 2022, beating an Argentine team that later went all the way and lifted the trophy.
Read: Crystal Palace sign French sensational coach: ‘We want to make the fans smile’
Uruguay in search of old glory days
Uruguay lifted the trophy in 1930 and 1950 and has reached the semi-finals twice. But in the last championship four years ago, the campaign already ended in the group stage.
The match is the second to be played in Group H. Earlier in the day, the group started with Spain’s meeting against Cape Verde in Atlanta.
World Cup 2026: Saudi Arabia’s confirmed squad against Uruguay
Al-Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al Aqidi is out with a hamstring injury for Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia’s starting eleven: Alowais; Alamri, Altambakti, Abdulhamid, Alharbi, Abu Alshamat; Aljuwayr, Alkhaibari, Kanno; Albrikan, Aldawsari
Saudi Arabia’s substitutes: Alaqidi, Alkassar, Majrashi, Lajami, Bu Washl, Kadish, Thikri, Aldawsari, Aljohani, Alhajji, Yahya, Alshehri, Alghannam, Alhamddan, Mandash
World Cup 2026: Uruguay’s complete squad against Saudi Arabia
Ronald Araújo (calf) and Giorgian de Arrascaeta (calf) are out of the matchday squad, while José Giménez (ankle) will have to settle for a place on the bench. Matías Viña (muscle) and Sebastián Cáceres (head) are unable to start.
All-time top scorer Luis Suárez had hinted that he would be open to coming out of national team retirement, but he was not selected. Thus, this is the first time since 2002 that Uruguay is in a World Cup without the Inter Miami striker.
Uruguay’s starting eleven: Muslera; Cáceres, Varela, Olivera, Viña; Ugarte, Bentancur, Valverde, Araújo; Núñez, Viñas
Uruguay substitutes: Rochet, Mele, Giménez, Bueno, De la Cruz, Canobbio, Martínez, Piquerez, Sanabria, Zalazar, Pellistri, Rodríguez, Aguirre
Where to watch Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay: TV channel and live stream
Kick-off is Monday at 22:00 Norwegian time (18:00 local time in Miami). In Norway, the match will probably be shown on NRK or Viaplay, depending on the rights.
World Cup 2026: Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay facts
- Saudi Arabia has advanced past the first round in one of its six previous World Cup appearances – in 1994 in the United States.
- They have lost 68 percent of their World Cup matches (13 out of 19). That is the highest loss rate of any nation that has played 15 or more matches in the tournament.
- In their 19 games in the playoffs, Saudi Arabia’s only clean sheet is a 1–0 win against Belgium in the group stage in 1994.
- Only Iraq and Japan (12 each) had more clean sheets than Saudi Arabia’s ten in the Asia qualifiers. Four of them came in the last six games, including a 0-0 draw against Japan in March 2025.
- Salem Al Dawsari is one of four players to have won the AFC Player of the Year award twice (2023 and 2025). The others are Hidetoshi Nakata (1997 and 1998), Server Djeparov (2008 and 2011) and Akram Afif (2019 and 2023). Al Dawsari is the only Saudi Arabian player to have achieved this feat.
- Hervé Renard is in his third World Cup as head coach. He has previously led Morocco in 2018 and Saudi Arabia in 2022. The win over Argentina was the Frenchman’s only win in the playoffs (one draw, four losses).
- Uruguay became the first champions in 1930 and won again in 1950. They are one of only six teams to have won the World Cup multiple times, along with Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina and France.
- This is Uruguay’s 15th World Cup participation and their fifth straight. Their best performances since their last triumph in 1950 are fourth-place finishes in 1954, 1970 and 2010.
- Uruguay recorded 147 ball recovery times in the South American qualifiers. That is at least 26 more than any other country, ahead of Argentina in second place with 121.
- Darwin Núñez was involved in the most goals for Uruguay during the qualifiers (five goals and two assists). Only Colombia’s James Rodríguez (seven) provided more assists than Maxi Araújo (four).
- This will be Marcelo Bielsa’s third World Cup as head coach, with his third different nation. He led Argentina in 2002 (knocked out in the group stage) and Chile in 2010 (knocked out by Brazil in the last eight).
- Only Bora Milutinović and Carlos Alberto Parreira (five each) as well as Henri Michel (four) have led more different teams in the World Cup than Bielsa.
