Reigning World Cup champions Argentina head to Uruguay on Friday as Lionel Scaloni’s side aim to put themselves on the brink of qualification for the 2026 World Cup, without Lionel Messi in this squad.
MORE — Latest scores, table in South America World Cup qualifying
Argentina are sitting pretty atop the standings in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying and have a five-point gap ahead of second-place Uruguay. A win in this game in Montevideo and defeats for Bolivia and Venezuela would all but secure their spot in the 2026 World Cup with five games of qualifying to spare. Even though Lionel Messi has been left off this roster to allow him to rest, Argentina are still stacked with talent and Scaloni will look to Inter Milan captain Lautaro Martinez and Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez in attack, plus the likes of Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez in midfield to stand tall. This Argentina side is so tight and settled.
Uruguay are going along very nicely in qualifying with Marcelo Bielsa creating another fine team. Darwin Nunez is their main threat up top, while Federico Valverde and Jose Maria Gimenez are stars in midfield and defense respectively. Uruguay sit second in qualifying and have been so solid throughout this campaign. They have only won one of their last six qualifiers but only lost one in that stretch, drawing four times. They’ve come through a really tough stretch of qualifiers in recent windows, drawing at Brazil, plus drawing at home against Ecuador and beating Colombia at home in a thriller in November as Manchester United’s Manuel Ugarte scored the winner in the 101st minute.
How to watch Uruguay vs Argentina live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 7:30pm ET Friday (March 21)
Venue: Estadio Centenario — Montevideo, Uruguay
TV/Streaming: Fubo TV
Uruguay team news, focus
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo is back fit and in the squad, which is a massive boost for Uruguay. With Ugarte, Valverde, Bentancur, de Arrascaeta and Nandez in midfield, they have so much experience and are perfectly suited for Bielsa’s high-energy, high-pressing tactics. In attack Darwin Nunez has had a tough few weeks at Liverpool but he is now Uruguay’s undisputed star striker in attack and has to stand tall to lead the line and be clinical.
Argentina team news, focus
Emiliano Martinez continues to impress in goal as he helps Aston Villa on their charge in the Champions League, while Spurs’ Cristiano Romero is back in the squad after returning from injury. Argentina are missing Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez who is out with an ACL injury but aside from the absence of Messi, they’re looking so strong. Paredes, De Paul, Fernandez and Mac Allister are such an impressive quartet to call on in midfield, while up top Martinez and Alvarez will give Argentina plenty of attacking threat even though they are sans Messi.
Uruguay vs Argentina prediction
This feels like it will be a draw and Argentina will be fine with it. Uruguay’s tempo is ferocious and the last time they lost a game at home was back in November 2021 in World Cup qualifying to Argentina. They won’t lose this one and expect a brilliant end-to-end game between South America’s two form teams. Uruguay 2-2 Argentina.
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