2018 World Cup Odds and Prediction: Uruguay Team Betting Preview

The Uruguayans are loaded up front, but even if they cruise through the group stage, they’re almost certainly going to find themselves facing a significant test in the elimination round as they seek their first World Cup championship in 68 years.

 2018 World Cup Uruguay Odds

Odds to advance: -455

Odds to win World Cup: +2,900

World Cup wins: 20

Best result: Championship (1930, 1950)

FIFA World Ranking: 17

Manager: Oscar Tabarez

Captain: Diego Godin

Uruguay Players to Watch

Luis Suarez: The Barcelona superstar won’t have Lionel Messi flanking him in Russia, but Edinson Cavani is no slouch – and together, that duo should do enough damage to put Uruguay through with ease. Suarez is among the top 10 betting choices for the Golden Boot as the tournament’s leading goal scorer (+2,500) and is +3,300 to win tournament MVP honours.

Edinson Cavani: While Suarez has a slight edge in scoring on the international stage (50 goals in 97 appearances to Cavani’s 42 goals in 100 caps), Cavani carries the same odds of leading the World Cup in goals at +2,500. And while Suarez (+125) has slightly better odds than Cavani (+150) to lead Uruguay in scoring, no one would be surprised to see Cavani top the team.

Diego Godin: The 32-year-old Atletico Madrid star is the centrepiece of a stout Uruguayan defensive unit that allowed just 20 goals in 18 World Cup qualifying games – fourth-fewest in the CONMEBOL region. He also has plenty of big-game chops, scoring on a brilliant header against Italy to send Uruguay through the 2014 World Cup group stage in Brazil.

World Cup Formation and Projected Starting 11

Formation: 4-4-2

Projected Starting 11: Fernando Muslera; Guillermo Varela, Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez, Martin Caceres; Nahitan Nandez, Matias Vecino, Federico Valverde, Cristian Rodriguez; Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani

Uruguay Strengths

Goal-scoring will be this team’s forte, at least in the group stage; Cavani and Suarez are one of the best 1-2 punches in the world, and none of Russia, Egypt or Saudi Arabia have defences capable of slowing them down. Uruguary produced the second-most goals among CONMEBOL teams in World Cup qualifying (31) and are a +2,800 dark horse to lead the tournament in goals. Cavani had 10 in the qualifying stage, while Suarez added five.

Uruguay Weaknesses

The Uruguayan side will feature plenty of new faces in the midfield – but it’s unclear how this amalgam of talent will fare on the big stage. Tabarez’s teams have traditionally worked the ball from the back end directly to the forwards – so incorporating the midfielder more heavily into the offensive game plan is a new approach. And if it ends up looking more like a work in progress than a finished product, Uruguay could struggle.

Uruguay News

Midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro of the MLS’s Seattle Sounders had represented Uruguay in the past two World Cups – but he won’t be joining the team in Russia, having been left off the official 23-man roster. Lodeiro had struggled to make inroads amid a wave of younger Uruguayan midfield prospects and is battling a toe injury that makes it unlikely he would have arrived at the World Cup at full health even if he had made the club.

Uruguay Betting Prediction

The Uruguayans have plenty of things working in their favour – most notably, one of the softest groups in the tournament. Cavani and Suarez should be able to take full advantage of opposing defences, making that -455 play on Uruguay advancing past the group stage an easy win. And if Uruguay can get through its first elimination match unscathed, this team is a solid bet to reach the semis – a play that’s paying a cool +900 at the moment.

However, that “if” in the previous sentence is a big one; Uruguay’s reward for advancing out of Group A is a likely date with either Spain or Portugal in the Round of 16. With both teams going into Russia ranked in the top eight in the world, it’s likely the Uruguayans would go into that one as a deserving underdog. And in that case, you might be better off playing it safe and taking Uruguay at +135 to go no further than the first game of the elimination round. Current World Cup odds have them listed as -179 favorites in their first matchup vs. Egypt.