Uruguay vs Chile

Estadio Centenario is the venue as Uruguay and Chile go head-to-head in their opening 2026 World Cup qualifying fixture.

Uruguay’s new era under ex-Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa begins on home turf, where they’ve racked up five wins in their last six outings (L1), including friendlies. Since exiting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar already after the group stages, ‘La Celeste’ have gone from strength to strength, claiming three wins in four matches (D1) while netting 2+ goals in each victory. With the six best of the ten South American nations set to earn World Cup qualification in a new expanded format, a flying start may set the tone for Uruguay’s fifth consecutive appearance at the final tournament. Chile’ss visit to Montevideo bodes well, considering the Urugayans’ have won five of their six World Cup qualifying H2Hs on home turf in the 21st century (D1), including the last three in a row by an aggregate score of 9-1.

On the other hand, Chile’s disastrous record on Uruguayan soil this millennium is not the only genuine concern for visiting manager Eduardo Berizzo, given his men are winless in their last eight away matches (D4, L4 – 90 mins only). Chile’s perennial scoring struggle, especially on foreign soil, has seen them fail to get on the scoresheet in seven of those eight travels, suggesting another disappointing qualifying start could be on the cards. Indeed, ‘La Roja’ have missed out on World Cup qualification in the last two tournaments, while they’ve never failed to reach the finals three times on the trot. However, they may have to wait for precious points, considering they went winless in all six away games (D2, L4) against sides to have finished above them in the last World Cup qualifying campaign.