Uruguay will travel to Barranquilla on Thursday as they take on Colombia in the third round of South American World Cup 2026 qualifying games.
The hosts have begun with four points from their opening two outings, while their visitors suffered a defeat to Ecuador in their second game after beginning with a victory.
Match preview
Colombia headed into the latest World Cup Qualifying campaign with the aim of returning to the global stage after missing out on the latest competition in Qatar, ending a run of back-to-back finals appearances in 2014 and 2018, in which they reached the quarter-finals and round of 16 respectively.
Indeed, La Tricolor fell agonisingly short in their previous qualification bid, ending on 23 points from their 18 games, sixth in the South American group and two points outside of the top four spots which guaranteed qualification and one point off the inter-confederation playoff place.
That was after the campaign finished with back-to-back wins over Bolivia and Venezuela last March, and they have since turned those results into the foundations of a formidable run having gone unbeaten since then, firstly playing in nine friendlies between June 2022 and June 2023 and securing seven wins alongside draws with USA and South Korea.
Nestor Lorenzo managed La Tricolor from the second of those games onwards last July, and following his impressive unbeaten start, he led them into qualifying with confidence and they began with a three-point haul, beating Venezuela 1-0 on home soil last month thanks to Rafael Borre's second-half goal, before travelling to Chile in their second outing and taking a creditable share of the spoils from a goalless draw in Macul.
Now returning to continental action with four points on the board from two games, having not yet conceded in qualifying and not lost in any competition since the beginning of February 2022, Colombia will aim to keep building momentum under Lorenzo and score another victory to establish themselves at the top end of the South American group in this round of games.
In their way stand a Uruguay side who will aim to make it six points from three qualifying games in their bid to reach their fifth consecutive World Cup tournament, most recently falling short in Qatar in 2022.
Diego Alonso led La Celeste into the global competition but they bowed out in the group stage by the barest of margins, finishing third with four points and only trailing second-placed South Korea on goals scored.
Following Alonso's February departure and a brief spell under Marcelo Broli, the hierarchy set out to appoint Marcelo Bielsa as their new manager in May, and his tenure began with friendly wins over Nicaragua and Cuba, before hosting Chile in their first qualifying game in September and making it three wins from three under the new boss, dishing out a 3-1 beating in Montevideo thanks to Nicolas de la Cruz's brace and a Federico Valverde goal.
They would then travel to take on Ecuador in their second outing, and despite going ahead through Agustin Canobbio in the 38th minute, La Celeste had to leave empty-handed as Felix Torres turned the game on its head with a brace and sealed a 2-1 home win.
Now heading into key qualifying ties with Colombia and Brazil this month, Uruguay will be keen to establish their dominance in South America with a victory on their travels on Thursday to leapfrog their opponents and strengthen their position in the early stages.
Team News
Nestor Lorenzo only made one change to his Colombia side between their opening two qualifying games, and we should see a similar starting XI on Thursday, although he is forced into three alterations in defence with Yerry Mina, Daniel Munoz and Jhon Lucumi all ruled out of when the squad was called up, meaning Santiago Arias, Davinson Sanchez and Carlos Cuesta could all come in to join Deiver Machado in the back four.
La Tricolor do have more competition further forward, with talismanic captain James Rodriguez vying to come in in midfield, as is Wilmar Barrios, while Mateus Uribe is bound to keep his place with Crystal Palace's Jefferson Lerma also ruled out through injury.
Rafael Borre will hope to again lead the line amid competition from Jhon Duran, while Liverpool's Luis Diaz will continue to play a starring role in attack, with Jhon Arias and Luis Sinisterra fighting to line up on the other wing as veteran winger Juan Cuadrado is again not included in the squad.
Uruguay again head into their qualifying games with somewhat of a new-look squad with experienced players all over the pitch not playing a role, as defenders Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez, Martin Caceres and Sebastian Coates are out, as is veteran goalkeeper Fernando Muslera and talismanic forwards Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, who sit first and second respectively in their all-time scoring charts.
Bielsa does have plenty of quality at his disposal, though, with Liverpool's Darwin Nunez stepping up to lead the line in place of Suarez and Cavani, while Manchester United prospect Facundo Pellistri will hope to come back in on the wing from the outset.
He could join Agustin Canobbio and Nicolas de la Cruz in a supporting trio behind Nunez, while new captain and Real Madrid man Federico Valverde will join Paris Saint-Germain's Manuel Ugarte in the engine room, with Ronald Araujo vying to return in defence and break up the new regular pairing of Matias Vina and Sebastian Caceres.
Colombia possible starting lineup:
Vargas; Arias, Sanchez, Cuesta, Machado; Uribe, Rodriguez, Barrios; Sinisterra, Borre, Diaz
Uruguay possible starting lineup:
Rochet; Araujo, Vina, Caceres, Piquerez; Valverde, Ugarte; Canobbio, De La Cruz, Pellistri; Nunez
We say: Colombia 1-1 Uruguay
While Uruguay arguably boast slightly more quality throughout their squad, Thursday certainly presents a tough test against a Colombia team who also have momentum from a fine run, and we see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome in Barranquilla.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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