Uruguay vs Nicaragua

Estadio Centenario plays host to a maiden international clash between South American heavyweights Uruguay and North American minnows Nicaragua.

After a failed attempt to make it out of the 2022 World Cup group stages, a new dawn has arisen in Montevideo, with Uruguay avoiding defeat in both internationals in 2023 (W1, D1) despite conceding on both occasions. Marcelo Bielsa’s touchline debut could be a perfect opportunity for ‘La Celeste’ to defy their scoring woes after drawing a blank in three of their last six outings. A long-awaited return to Montevideo will increase Uruguay’s chances of securing a morale-boosting triumph despite a 1-0 defeat to Iran in their most recent home fixture. Before that upset, the Uruguayans had won three consecutive home matches by an aggregate score of 10-1, notably netting 4+ goals twice in that sequence.

In the meantime, Nicaragua got the new calendar year off to a flying start with an overwhelming 4-1 win over sub-par Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, but the wheels have fallen off in the aftermath. A goal-glutted 3-2 defeat to Panama followed a 1-1 draw at Trinidad & Tobago, putting ‘Los Pinoleros’ at risk of going winless in three consecutive internationals without winning for the first time since September/November 2022. Taking the lead won’t necessarily guarantee success for Nicaragua, considering they’ve ended up empty-handed across the last two matches in which they’ve opened the scoring (D1, L1). Since September 2022, they’ve lost four out of five away games (D1), conceding multiple goals on three occasions, explaining the skepticism in the visiting camp.