So far in the 2026 World Cup, South American teams have yet to win, and Uruguay was no exception. Following the surprise of the 0-0 draw between Spain and Cape Verde earlier, Group H delivered another unexpected result: a 1-1 draw for Saudi Arabia against the Charrúas.
During the initial minutes, although the Celeste would have their first promising shot at 4 from Maximiliano Araújo, which was saved by the Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais, the match did not show a clear dominator. In this context, the game would enter a prolonged plateau with no notable actions.
Only at minute 29, moments after the first cooling break, Marcelo Bielsa's team would be close to taking the lead again. After a clearance from Saudi defender Hassan Al Tambakti, Rodrigo Bentancur would cross for Araújo, who would bring the ball down to the center of the area, where Federico Viñas would push it into the goal with a diving header, but Al Owais managed to clear and the resulting rebound would not be capitalized on by Manuel Ugarte.
On the Asian side, after several attempts, they would finally have their first clear opportunity at 37: Musab Al-Juwayr would take a corner kick to the heart of the Charrúa area, where Abdulelah Al-Amri would receive it unmarked and shoot at goal, although Fernando Muslera would deflect it out with a punch.
And they wouldn't stop there, as shortly after they would create another dangerous play from a corner, which this time would end in a goal. At 39, Al-Juwayr would send it to Mohamed Kanno, who would win in the air and with a header force a poor rebound from Muslera, which Abdulelah Al-Amri would take advantage of to score 1-0.
