Saudi Arabia and Uruguay shared the spoils in an absorbing 1-1 draw at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (WC), leaving La Celeste with only one win in their last nine opening games at the tournament (D5, L3).
2026 World Cup
1-1
Match Highlights ↓
https://www.fifa.com/en/watch/2OO54UvFW7GK8vnsarneGk
Match Report
These two nations faced off on a sultry evening in Miami, knowing that victory would be enough to go top of Group H and lay down an early marker after Spain’s unexpected goalless draw with Cape Verde earlier in the day.
La Celeste were the favourites despite their recent inauspicious form, and created a chance inside the opening five minutes when Mohammed Al Owais parried away Maximiliano Araujo’s strike from the edge of the box.
Salem Al Dawsari then tested the water after cutting inside from the left, but saw his right-footed shot go well wide of the target.
Al Owais was called into action again to push away Federico Vinas’ diving header, but the Saudis sensed a defensive vulnerability in this Uruguay team and took a stunning 41st-minute lead against the two-time WC winners.
Mohamed Kanno’s initial header from Musab Al Juwayr’s corner was saved by Fernando Muslera, but Abdulelah Al Amri showed brilliant tenacity to prod home the rebound.
Significantly, that ended the Green Falcons’ run of 16 WC matches without scoring the opening goal since beating Belgium 1-0 in 1994.
Marcelo Bielsa made two changes at the break, resulting in a much brighter start to the second half for Uruguay. Al Owais pushed Vinas’ header to safety, before the Real Oviedo frontman headed wide from Araújo’s corner.
Saudi Arabia’s slender lead was looking increasingly precarious as Manuel Ugarte drilled a long-range shot which cannoned off the post in another big let-off for Georgios Donis’ side.
Federico Valverde was also having more of an impact after Bielsa’s tactical tweak, and Al-Owais was on hand once again to clear away the Real Madrid midfielder’s free-kick.
However, La Celeste deservedly restored parity in the 80th minute when Araujo reacted quickest to the loose ball after Al Owais made yet another save to keep out Vinas’ header.
That direct approach was causing the Saudis all manner of problems, and Brian Rodriguez was not far away from scoring a second when his fierce long-range strike flew just past the post.
Al Owais was having an incredible night between the sticks and made arguably his best save of the night late on, with a fine one-handed stop to push away Valverde’s effort in stoppage time.
Ultimately, the points were shared to leave all four teams in Group H with one point after the opening round of matches. Both teams are back in action on Sunday, as Uruguay return to Miami to face Cape Verde, while Saudi Arabia head north to Atlanta where they will face 2010 champions Spain.
Match Events
41' Goal! Al Amri fires the rebound low into the middle of the goal
80' Goal! Maxi Araujo gets to the rebound inside the box and rifles the ball low into the middle of the net
Line-ups
Saudi Arabia XI: Salem Al Dawsari, Mohammed Al Owais, Mohammed Kanoo, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Firas Al-Buraikan, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Hassan Tambakti, Saud Abdulhamid, Moteb Al-Harbi, Musab Al-Juwayr, Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat
Subs: Ahmed Al-Kassar, Saleh Al-Shehri, Sultan Mandash, Ali Lajami, Alaa Hejji, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Ali Majrashi, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Nawaf Boushal, Ayman Yahya, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Ziyad Al-Johani, Hasan Kadesh, Jehad Thakri
Uruguay XI: Muslera, G. Varela, Bentancur, Valverde, M.Olivera, Ugarte, Vina, Sebastián Cáceres, Nunez, Maxi Araújo, Federico Viñas
Subs: Rodrigo Aguirre, Gimenez, Sergio Rochet, Santiago Mele, Santiago Bueno, Joaquín Piquerez, Nicolás de la Cruz, Agustín Canobbio, Juan Manuel Sanabria, B Rodriguez, Facundo Pellistri, Rodrigo Zalazar, Emiliano Martínez