Portugal vs Uruguay Prediction - 2022 World Cup: Who Will Win?

🏠 Portugal Team Preview

Portugal find themselves sitting in ninth place in the FIFA world rankings, which means that FIFA rank them as the seventh best national team in Europe. This was important because it meant that they were in Pot 1 for the World Cup draw, meaning that they got to avoid some of the other big guns. However, if you want to put your money on Portugal to lift the Jules Rimet trophy, then you will find odds of 15.00 which is indicative of the patchy form that they have been showing lately.

For instance, the Portuguese seemed to be sailing towards automatic qualification, but they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Serbia, which forced them into having to qualify via the play-offs, which they did thanks to a win over North Macedonia, who knocked out Italy. They also lost 1-0 to Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League, which eventually cost them a place at the top of the table.

Portugal are really unpredictable, but when they are playing at the top of their game they have the potential to beat the best teams. In our opinion, they will be more of the most interesting teams to watch at the World Cup because of their inconsistencies.

🏆 World Cup History

Portugal will be playing at their eighth World Cup, and this will be their sixth consecutive appearance at the biggest football competition in the world. Before this long sequence, they only appeared at two World Cups, with the first one being in England in 1966 and the second one being in Mexico in 1986. In the 1996 edition, Eusebio helped his side to the semi-finals, while in 1986 they were knocked out in the Group Stage after landing just one win from the three matches that they played in - this was a 1-0 win against England.

After a long 16-year absence, they qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where they were eliminated in the Group Stage. They then finished fourth at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, while they were knocked out in the group stages in 2010 and 2018.

✔️ Qualification and Road to the World Cup 2022

Portugal's qualifying group for the WC 2022 included Serbia, Luxembourg, the Republic of Ireland, and Azerbaijan. When this draw was made, the Portuguese were expected to comfortably qualify from the group, with their only main contenders being Serbia.

The Serbian team was able to keep up with Portugal throughout the qualifiers, and the two sides met in their last group game with a winner takes all scenario in Lisbon. As the match was nearing injury time, it was drawn at 1-1, meaning that Portugal would top the group on goal difference. However, Aleksandar Mitrovic had different ideas and he headed in a winner to send Serbia through to Qatar as winners of the group.

This devastating loss meant that Portugal had to be content with a Play-Off spot, where they disposed of Turkey and then squeezed past Macedonia to book their spot alongside Serbia at Qatar. Below are all the matches that Portugal had to play to qualify for the biggest international football competition:

⭐ Portugal Players to Watch

We are pretty sure that you have heard of most of the players that will be part of the Portugal squad this year because many play on the big European stages regularly. Despite this, we still decided to pick out three players that you need to look out for in Qatar.

• Cristiano Ronaldo: Despite being nearly 38 years of age, Ronaldo is sill the talisman for the Portuguese team. How could he not be with 117 goals for his country and over 700 club goals in his career? He might not be the player that he once was, but he always performs on the world stage, and if Portugal manage to go far in this competition, we are sure that he will have had a big say in it
• Bruno Fernandes: When it comes to unlikeable characters in sport, Bruno has got to be up there with the likes of Virat Kohli, but there is no denying just how good he is. He is a very talented midfielder with an eye for a pass and the ability to score goals, but we do think that he kind of tarnishes his reputation by always getting in the ref's ear. To date, he has made 100 appearances for Manchester United and has clocked up 38 goals, while he has 9 goals on 48 appearances for his country - two of these helped Portugal to beat North Macedonia and secure their spot at the 2022 WC
• João Cancelo: The 28-year-old Manchester City player is naturally a defender, but Pep Guardiola decided to play him in a roaming number 10 role, and he has proven that he can excel in this position. He is one of those players that can use both of his feet, and he has a really good passing range. He has 7 goals in 36 appearances for Portugal, so he also has an eye for goal as well. He is a joy to watch and we look forward to watching him doing his thing in Qatar

☍ Uruguay Preview

Uruguay are ranked as the 13th best team in the world, and they are considered to be the third best South American team with only Argentina and Brazil sitting ahead of them. Uruguay will enter the World Cup in some good form, having won six of their last seven matches, while conceding just a solitary goal. This will give them plenty of confidence in making it through the group and then going on a deep run in the tournament.

🏆 World Cup History

Uruguay has a really rich World Cup history, and they were the competition's most successful team between the years 1930 and 1950. Now, while they only took part in the 1930 and 1950 editions of the World Cup, they won them both, with the latter one being particularly pleasing because they overturned Brazil on their own patch with 170,000 fans in attendance at the Estádio do Maracanã.

In 1954 they managed to finish in fourth place, while a workmanlike Uruguay side made it to the last eight in 1966 after they were surprisingly eliminated in the group stage four years earlier. Since the 1970 competition, they have struggled for consistency, although they did manage to pick up fourth spot at the 2010 edition in South Africa.

Overall, this will be the 14th time that Uruguay have played at the WC finals, and to date they have played 56 matches and have won 24, lost 20, and drawn 12.

✔️ Qualification and Road to the World Cup 2022

The second half of Uruguay's CONMEBOL qualification process was a bit of a torrid one which included two defeats to Argentina, a heavy defeat at the hands of Brazil, and a 3-0 shocking defeat to Bolivia. This put their place at the World Cup in serious doubt, but they pulled themselves together and lost only two of their other 14 qualifiers to secure third place in the table and book themselves a spot in Qatar.

Below you can see the results of their qualifying campaign:

⭐ Uruguay Players to Watch

You should be quite familiar with many players from the Uruguay squad since a lot of them play in the top leagues in Europe. Like we did above with Portugal, we are now going to provide you with three key Uruguayans to look out for when they are playing at the World Cup.

• José Giménez: Uruguay have always had a pretty strong defence, and while Diego Godin is seen by many as the heartbeat of their defence, José Giménez is definitely his heir. At the age of 27, he is approaching his peak, and he already has 78 caps for his country, with 8 goals to boot. If you want to win a World Cup, you need to have a strong set of defenders, and Giménez will be a rock for La Celeste throughout the competition
• Edison Cavani: He was released by Manchester in the summer and took some time to find a new club, but Valencia decided to take a punt on him, and in the 7 games that he has played for them he has found the back of the net on 4 occasions. At 35 years of age, this will be his last World Cup, so he will be eager to end it on a high. During his international career he has been capped 133 times and has scored 58 goals, and we would be quite surprised if he did not add to this tally in Qatar
• Rodrigo Bentancur: He signed for Tottenham at the start of 2022, and he has gone on to become a very important clog in their midfield. Every team needs a complete engine in the middle of the park, and Bentancur fits this description perfectly because it seems like he does not even know the meaning of the word "tired". He will be tasked with snuffing out dangerous attacks, and we believe that he will do exactly what is asked of him

💯 Portugal vs Uruguay Betting Odds

Before you place a match winner bet on a football match at the World Cup, it is wise to have a look at the odds that various betting sites are offering their punters since this can provide you with a good feel as to which way the match will go. With regard to this Portugal v Uruguay game, the sportsbooks have Portugal as the slight favourites to win.

⚡ Match Winner

Below are the match winner odds that are currently on offer at some of the best bookies for UK football betting fans:

Team
Portugal	2.05	2.10	2.10	2.10	2.10
Draw	3.25	3.30	3.25	3.20	3.25
Uruguay	3.50	3.55	3.60	3.60	3.60

🔥 Both Teams to Score

One thing that makes football betting so popular among sports bettors in the United Kingdom is the fact that top bookies always offer a wide variety of markets, which helps to keep things lovely and fresh. From all the different markets that are available, there is one that we really like and this is the Both Teams to Score market. With this market you can cheer on both teams because you need them both to find the back of the net in order for your bet to be a winning one.

Below are the BTTS odds that are currently on offer for the Portugal v Uruguay match:

Team			*img5ld[lazy]
No	1.80	1.85	1.83	1.80	1.80
Yes	1.91	1.95	1.83	1.91	1.95

🥅 Over/Under 2.5 Goals

Another market that we always like to have a look at when betting on football is the Over/Under 2.5 goals market, and this is the kind of bet where you have to try and predict the number of goals that will be scored in a game. If you go for the over option, then you need there to be 3 goals or more in the match, while those who go for the under option will need there to be no more than 2 goals in the game.

Below you can see the odds that five top bookmakers are offering for the Over/Under 2.5 goals market for Portugal v Uruguay.

Team
Over 2.5 goals	2.10	2.20	2.15	2.20	2.15
Under 2.5 goals	1.65	1.60	1.60	1.61	1.65

🥇 Who Will Win? Portugal vs Uruguay Prediction

This will be a fiercely contested match between two top-quality sides, but the bookmakers have Portugal as the favourites to win, and we happen to agree with this. We think that Portugal have slightly better quality than their South American opponents, and this should be enough to see them claim an important three points. However, you can bet your bottom dollar that Uruguay will use all of their pedigree and experience to make it as hard as possible for Portugal.

🔍 Our Portugal vs Uruguay Betting Tips?

Here are some World Cup football betting tips that you might want to think about ahead of this match. We hope this advice will be helpful, but obviously nothing can ever be guaranteed in the sports betting world.

Under 2.5 goals: Both these teams have very good defenders in their side, so we feel that goals will not be that easy to come by. We feel that there will be fewer than 3 goals in the game, so we would put our money on under 2.5 goals.

Over 3.5 yellows: Both the Uruguayans and the Portuguese love to play act on the field, which can lead to the ref being conned into giving out bookings. We would be surprised if there were not at least four yellow cards in this huge match.

Bentancur to be booked: Nowadays, you can bet on specific players to be booked, and Bentancur is one of those players that loves to put in a tackle, which increases his risk of picking up a booking.

🎁 Find World Cup Free Bets

Every bettor enjoys getting free bets because they allow punters to make a bet without risking their own money. Sports betting sites know how popular free bets are, which is why they try to attract new players by offering a range of free bets. In the table below, you can find three top free bet offers that we think you should have a closer look at - remember to read the terms and conditions before you claim any bonus.

Sportsbook	Offer
	£100 Welcome Bonus
	£60 Welcome Bonus
	£30 Welcome Bonus