Portugal vs Uruguay - 2022 World Cup Betting Guide

Portugal Team Info – All Eyes on Ronaldo

Portugal will enter the World Cup for the 8th time in their history this year. They narrowly missed out on finishing first in the UEFA Group A, losing their last game to Serbia who would take the top spot from them, and then Portugal had to play in the Path C playoffs. They did not face much difficulty in these games, beating Turkey and North Macedonia. Portugal have never reached a World Cup final, the furthest they have ever reached was the semi finals in 1966 and 2006. In 1966, they managed to clinch a third place finish, whilst in 2006, they finished fourth.

With their key player, Cristiano Ronaldo, still in fine form and playing regularly for the country, Portugal may be able to make their greatest ever World Cup run. He is supported by possibly the best Portuguese team of recent times, with a great attacking force of Diogo Jota, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Andre Silva, and Goncalo Guedes, amongst more. In the middle of the field, they can use Renato Sanches, Joao Moutinho, William Carvalho, Joao Mario, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, or Bruno Fernandes. Pepe, may lead the defence. At the age of 39, he is still playing at the top level for Porto. They also have far younger defenders such as Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Nuno Mendes, Diogo Dalot, Raphael Guerreiro, and more. In goal, they can use Rui Patricio, who has 104 caps.

Uruguay Team Info – Pressure on Suarez and Cavani

In the 2022 World Cup, Uruguay will play in their 14th World Cup. They were the hosts of the very first World Cup and won it, as well as winning the first World Cup after the Second World War. They have reached a fourth place finish three times, with the most recent coming in 2010. The team finished third in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, behind Brazil and Argentina, but the statistics from their games may bring up some concerns for manager Diego Alonso. Uruguay scored 22 goals but also conceded 22 goals, to finish with a goal difference of 0. The squad has quite a few older players in both their attack and defence, but they also have many young players who may be able to bring some pace and physicality to the side.

Goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, and defenders Diego Godin, Martin Caceres, and Darmian Suarez are all in their mid 30s. There are defenders such as Matias Vina, Ronald Araujo, Joaquin Piquerez, and José Gimenez who are in their 20s, but only Gimenez has been used frequently, making 78 appearances for his country. The Uruguay midfield is far younger, with Matias Vecino being the only player over 30. The likes of Federico Valverde, Lucas Torreira, Rodrigo Bentancur, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, and Mauro Arambarri all play in the middle of the field. Uruguay's strikeforce is a bit of a mixture. They have two veterans in Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, who have played 132 and 133 times for their country, with Suarez scoring 68 goals and Cavani scoring 58. They can also use Darwin Nunez, who was bought by Liverpool for £85 million in the summer, and is aged only 23.

Portugal vs Uruguay Head-to-head

Portugal and Uruguay have played against each other 3 times. Portugal won the first match, which was in 1966. The second match was in 1972, and ended in a draw. Most recently, the two sides met in the 2018 World Cup round of 16, where Uruguay beat Portugal 2-1.

Portugal vs Uruguay Betting Preview

This will be one of the most high profile of the group stage matches in the 2022 World Cup, and there will be masses of bets available on the game. Portugal will be favourites to win, but not by a long shot. You can find some fantastic bets on Portugal such as Portugal to win both halves, Ronaldo to score, Portugal to score 3 or more goals, and so on. You will find all the same bets for Uruguay as well, where you can bet on whether you think Suarez will score, Cavani will score, and more.

Asian Handicap

You can bet on a team to win with a handicap, which means that they should beat their opponents by a certain number of goals or more. There will be multiple negative numbers, and these will be subtracted from your chosen team’s score at the end of the match, but they should still win. Alternatively, you can apply a handicap that favours your chosen team, in which case you pick a positive number that is added to the score of your team at the end of the match.

If you pick Portugal to beat Uruguay with a handicap of -1.5 then you will need Portugal to win the match by at least 2 or more goals. If you bet on Portugal with a handicap of -2 then you will need Portugal to win the match by 3 or more goals, but if they only win by 2 goals then the scores will be level and so you shall receive your staked money back.

If you apply a handicap of -1.75 on Portugal, then half your stake will go on a handicap of -1.5 and the other will be put on a handicap of -2. If Portugal win by 3 goals or more, then you will receive your full winnings, however, if they only win by 2 goals then the -1.5 half of your bet will win whilst the -2 half of your bet will be refunded.

Player Goals

You will have the option to bet on which of the players in the match will score goals. If they are fit and start the match, you can be looking at odds on Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix, and Uruguay’s Darwin Nunez, Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, amongst the many prolific goal scorers in either team. You can also find bets for which player will score the first goal and which player will score the last goal in the fixture between Portugal and Uruguay.

Over/Under Total Goals

You can bet on whether the match between Portugal and Uruguay will have many goals or fewer goals with total goals bets. Here, you can find over and under bets for numerous betting lines. If you pick a line of 3.5 and bet on over, then you will need Portugal and Uruguay to score 4 or more goals in the match. If you bet on under, then you will need both teams to score 3 or fewer goals.

And Far More

You can find hundreds of bets on the match between Portugal and Uruguay listed in our massive collection. Portugal to win both halves, either team to score in the first 5 minutes, Uruguay to lead after 30 minutes, Portugal to reverse the result, Uruguay to win either half, Portugal to win by a margin of 2, are only a few examples of some of the markets that you may want to try out.

You can also find match combos that fuse one of the markets mentioned with a matchbet, double chance, or total goals bet, to generate even longer odds.

When you bet on the matches in the World Cup, it is extremely important to not spend more than you can afford. You can set up a budget, or control the amount of time you spend betting to make sure you avoid spending beyond your financial means, and if you need more help, then you can turn to gambleaware.co.uk