Two sides who should qualify for the 2026 World Cup meet in the early hours of Wednesday morning, as Uruguay host Brazil, with kick-off at 01:00 BST. I’ve previewed this huge clash and picked out a couple of selections for you to consider.

Team News

Darwin Nunez now leads the line for Uruguay as part of a youthful squad that is looking to move on from the era of Luis Suarez, Diego Godin and Edinson Cavani. Instead now they have talents such as captain Federico Valvede, Manchester United’s Facundo Pellestri and Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo. 

Meanwhile, Brazil failed to lure Carlo Ancelotti, and now interim manager Fernando Diniz is overseeing this stage of their qualification campaign. He’s not changed all that much from the work Tite was doing, playing an extravagant front four packed with talent. Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Richarlison all started in the 1-1 draw with Venezuela, and we can expect to see that quartet start again here. 

Match Odds

Uruguay are 11/4 to win this match at home, while a draw is available at 11/5. Meanwhile Brazil are priced at 9/10 to win this encounter. 

Brazil to win @ 9/10

Brazil may have dropped points at home to Venezuela last time out, but that was an unfortunate 1-1 draw that they utterly dominated. They had 71% possession and six shots on target, yet failed to put their opponents to bed, before Eduard Bello came up with a spectacular late equaliser. 

They beat Peru 1-0 in their only away qualifier so far, and smashed Bolivia 5-1 at home in their opening match. There’s no doubt that Brazil are still an elite team, and I’m more than happy to side with them at this price. Uruguay have been less than convincing so far, losing 2-1 to Ecuador and drawing 2-2 with Colombia in their last two fixtures. This young squad has promise, but they may be handed a footballing lesson here. 

Neymar to score anytime @ 7/4

Neymar’s club career may not have gone the way he expected it too, but he is still one of Brazil’s greatest ever players. He scored twice against Bolivia and has since been kept quiet, but for a man with 79 international goals to his name, we don’t expect that to be the case for long. 

Brazil have an awful lot of creativity in their side, and Neymar should be able to profit from it. In these big qualifiers, he has to step up to the plate to prove his worth. He is still Brazil’s star, and 7/4 on him to find the net seems fair.