World Cup
World Cup 2026
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Saudi Arabia and Uruguay begin their 2026 World Cup campaigns today in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Saudi Arabia beat Lionel Messi’s Argentina at the last World Cup and will be hoping to pull off a similar result.
Meanwhile, Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay will have their sights set on challenging favourites Spain to finish top of Group H.
Unsurprisingly, Uruguay’s Fede Valverde is a very popular player for his country and for his club Real Madrid.
Three fans with their Valverde 8 shirts on outside the stadium ahead of kick-off in Miami.
Game mode: on.
Both sets of players are out and warming up on the pitch, ready for action.
Kick-off is just over half an hour away.
When Uruguay won the right to host the inaugural World Cup — partly based around the fact they were celebrating their centenary as a nation, and partly because they were considered the strongest side around after winning the 1924 and 1928 Olympic football tournaments — it was both a blessing and a curse.
The curse was that they were handed only a year to put together a tournament of unprecedented size for a single sport.
Uruguay’s blessing, of course, was home advantage.
GO FURTHER
How Uruguay won the 1930 World Cup: Home advantage, breathing exercises and a final of two halves
Without the ball, Uruguay do not want to give you a second to think.
A tenacious midfield trio of Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur and Federico Valverde are happy to chase opponents up the pitch, while dominant defenders can also step up and snap at the heels of centre-forwards.
When they do turn over the ball, the pace of their front three gives them a reliable escape route, with a number of intense attacking midfielders — Maximiliano Araujo, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Brian Rodriguez — always quick to get up in support.
Even when they can control possession, movement is often drastic to get runners beyond the last defensive line.
Expect to see crunching tackles, lung-busting runs, along with the exhaustion and exhilaration that comes with a Bielsa team.
Hello from outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami where, unsurprisingly, it is incredibly hot (32C/89F and 66 per cent humidity) — but that hasn't stopped the Uruguay fans enjoying themselves in the fan zone ahead of their World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia.
Bottles of water in the fan zone are being sold for $6 and the cheapest alcoholic beer is $15.50.
There is also a home away from home for the Saudi Arabia supporters outside, with Qiddiya City, a tourism project in the Middle Eastern country and FIFA's 'official entertainment destination supporter' having a stand.
The referees for Saudi Arabia-Uruguay will be easy to spot, thanks to a departure from the traditional colors inspired by the match's location.
Today's match officials will sport "flamingo pink" shirts that honor Miami's wildlife, sunsets and architecture.
Our Dan Sheldon shares more about the officials' distinctive outfit selection.
These are the players on the subs bench for Saudi Arabia today…
Saudi Arabia subs: Alaqidi (GK), Alkhassar (GK), Majrashi, Lajami, Aldawsari, Yahya, Alshehri, Bu Washl, Kadish, Aljohani, Alghannam, Alhajji, Alhamddan, Mandash, Thikri.
Here’s a look at the players available to Marcelo Bielsa from the bench today…
Uruguay subs: Rochet (GK), Mele (GK), Giminiez, De La Cruz, Pellistri, Canobbio, Martinez, Rodriguez, Aguirre, Piquerez, Bueno, Sanabria, Zalazar.
And here’s a look at how Saudi Arabia line up today…
Saudi Arabia: Alowais; Alamri, Altambakti, Abdulhamid, Alharbi, Abu Alshamat; Kanno, Alkhaibari, Aljuwayr; Albrikan, Aldawsari.
Here’s a look at the starting team for Uruguay today…
Uruguay: Muslera; Caceres, Matias, Olivera, Varela; Araujo, Ugarte, Bentancur, Valverde; Vinas, Nunez.
Not long at all until both team line-ups are announced.
Stick around.
There was no place in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad for 39-year-old Luis Suarez, who had said he would come out of international retirement if asked.
The former Barcelona and Liverpool man, who is plying his trade for Inter Miami in the MLS, is Uruguay’s top goalscorer with 69 goals in 143 caps.
Suarez is obviously not the player he once was, but his absence from the squad leaves Uruguay without a proven goalscorer at international level.
Since Bielsa took charge in 2023, Uruguay’s top scorer is former Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez with 10 goals in 22 games. After him, you have to go all the way down to Federico Valverde with four goals in 24.
Where are the goals going to come from? It has not looked great for Uruguay in recent friendlies building up to the World Cup, where they have scored just five goals in their past six games.
The 27-year-old captain arrives at this tournament in his prime.
Now the complete midfielder, an incredible hat-trick against Manchester City in this season’s Champions League showed the development of Federico Valverde’s game.
His Madrid team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold labelled Valverde “the most underrated player on the planet” and the Uruguay captain will be essential to any success his side has at this tournament.
Valverde did make the headlines recently for the wrong reasons though. He and fellow Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni were involved in a dressing-room fight before their must-win match against Barcelona in May.
This will be Marcelo Bielsa’s third World Cup as a manager, having previously led Argentina and Chile at the 2002 and 2010 tournaments respectively.
The 70-year-old has been in charge of Uruguay since 2023, with a record of 16 wins, 10 draws and 7 defeats from his 33 games so far.
Bielsa began his tenure with statement wins against Brazil and Argentina, but his side’s form has not been great heading into the World Cup, and the Argentine nearly lost his job after a humiliating 5-1 defeat to the USA in November.
A few days later, Bielsa said in an emergency press conference:
💬 “I am toxic.”
Saudi Arabia made heavy work of qualifying with some truly unconvincing performances and results, leading to Roberto Mancini’s dismissal in October 2024.
In truth, they didn’t improve too much after Herve Renard returned. But as they showed when they beat eventual champions Argentina under the Frenchman in one of the shocks of the 2022 World Cup, they are capable of producing some big results on their day.
Their talisman and captain, this will be a third World Cup for Saudi Arabia winger Salem Al-Dawsari.
The 34-year-old has spent his entire club career with Al Hilal where he was playing under Simone Inzaghi, although the Italian manager’s future ahead of next season remains somewhat up in the air.
Al-Dawsari may have scored 26 goals in 107 appearances for the national side, but undoubtedly the most important of his career came in the 2022 World Cup group stage.
There, he scored the winning goal in a huge upset as Saudi Arabia beat eventual world champions Argentina 2-1 in their opening group game.
Saudi Arabia’s Greek coach, Georgios Donis, has been in charge of the national team for just two months, after the sacking of Herve Renard in April.
Frenchman Renard had two spells with the Green Falcons and led them during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but tensions rose in March after his side were beaten 4-0 by Egypt and lost against Serbia four days later.
Premier League fans may remember Donis from his spell with Blackburn Rovers in 1996-97.
This is the 56-year-old’s first foray into international management after spells with clubs in Greece, Israel and the Middle East across his 24-year managerial career so far.
Glad you asked.
After Spain vs Cape Verde kicked things off, Belgium vs Egypt has just got underway — with this match at 6pm ET and then Iran vs New Zealand the last match of today, starting at 9pm ET.
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