{"id":739807,"date":"2026-06-16T05:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/739807\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T05:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:14:16","slug":"saudi-arabia-draw-1-1-against-uruguay-in-world-cup-opening-game-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/739807\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia draw 1\u20131 against Uruguay in World Cup opening game | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published On 16 Jun 202616 Jun 2026<\/p>\n

Maxi Araujo scored a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw for Uruguay in their World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia, preventing another stunning upset in Group H after Spain\u2019s earlier goalless draw with Cape Verde.<\/p>\n

The Saudis famously beat Argentina 2-1 in their 2022 tournament opener, and they looked on course for another shock, courtesy of Abdulelah Alamri\u2019s 41st-minute strike, until winger Araujo stepped up 10 minutes from time at Miami Stadium on Monday.<\/p>\n

Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa certainly viewed it as a missed opportunity after European champions Spain dropped two points earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn opponent we should have beaten; we gave away minutes in the first half that suggest we didn\u2019t do things right,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to win this match.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Green Falcons ultimately had goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais to thank for their point, which will give them confidence they can progress to the knockout stage for the first time since the United States last hosted the World Cup in 1994.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very tired at the end, but to play this type of game with this opponent, and to get a point, it\u2019s a positive for us,\u201d said Saudi Arabia coach Georgios Donis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the spirit and the passion of my players, but I think we have the quality to play better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MIAMI,Abdulelah Alamri scores Saudi Arabia\u2019s goal past Fernando Muslera [Molly Darlington\/Getty Images via AFP]<\/p>\n

Uruguay, World Cup winners in 1930 and 1950, started the match with the swagger of favourites, and in the fifth minute, left winger Araujo turned on the edge of the box and angled a shot at goal, which Alowais parried away.<\/p>\n

But barring a Federico Vinas diving header on the half-hour mark, which Alowais also pushed away, the Uruguayans lacked accuracy going forward and often looked a bit casual at the back.<\/p>\n

Donis had promised his side would be courageous, and their attack sparked into life in the 36th minute, when left-back Moteb Alharbi skipped through the midfield before being cynically cut down 30 metres (about 30 yards) from goal.<\/p>\n

Alamri had a shot from the centre of the box well saved by Fernando Muslera two minutes later, but the Uruguay goalkeeper was powerless to prevent the Saudis from going ahead soon afterwards.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Kanno got on the end of a Musab Aljuwayr corner, and although Muslera managed to save his powerful header, Alamri was on hand to tap the ball into the net.<\/p>\n

Bielsa made two changes at the break, and Uruguay\u2019s game plan immediately looked more coherent \u2013 getting players down the flank to put crosses into the box and producing a string of headers for Alowais to deal with.<\/p>\n

Defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte came within inches of an equaliser when he beat the Saudi keeper in the 60th minute, only for his drilled shot to bounce off the far post.<\/p>\n

Vinas had been Uruguay\u2019s best aerial threat all game, and it was no surprise that the breakthrough came from one of his headers 10 minutes from full-time.<\/p>\n

Alowais again denied the target man, but the ball fell straight to Araujo, who did well to control it and clip it into the net at the near post.<\/p>\n

Uruguay poured forward, looking for a winner in a frenetic finish; Federico Valverde and Jose Maria Gimenez coming closest with rasping shots from either side of the box, which Alowais did well to push past his posts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the nerves of the debut worked against us, as did the need to go out and score,\u201d said Vinas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the second half, we did a bit more of what the manager wanted. I\u2019m frustrated and angry, but as captain, I\u2019m happy with my teammates\u2019 work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MIAMI,Saudi fans celebrate [Alex Slitz\/Getty Images via AFP]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published On 16 Jun 202616 Jun 2026 Maxi Araujo scored a late equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[527,43,44,457,41,39,42,40,772,1690,13010],"class_list":["post-739807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-football","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}