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Uruguay aim to book World Cup spot against a Peru side on the ropes
Sep 04 2025 13:38 · By onefootball.com · 23 Reads
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With a draw, La Celeste will secure their ticket to the World Cup , while Óscar Ibáñez's team needs to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. They face off at 20:30.
La Celeste, led by Marcelo Bielsa, hosts Peru this Thursday from 20:30 at the Estadio Centenario for the 17th round of the South American Qualifiers. With a draw, Uruguay will secure their ticket to the World Cup , while La Bicolor needs to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Uruguay National Team comes to this match with 24 points and the possibility of qualifying directly for the 2026 World Cup by just earning one point. However, the current state of Marcelo Bielsa's team is concerning: in their last five matches , they only achieved one victory , a 2-0 against Venezuela , and lost several key players. José María Giménez, Maximiliano Araujo, and Nicolás de la Cruz are out due to injury, while Ronald Araujo, Nahitan Nández, and Darwin Núñez will serve suspensions and can only reappear against Chile in the final round.
In contrast, Peru is in a tight spot. The team led by Óscar Ibáñez occupies the second-to-last position with 12 points and needs a win to keep their chances alive. La Bicolor must earn six points in the remaining two rounds and hope for favorable results to access the playoff . To make matters worse, they have significant absences: Paolo Guerrero, Edison Flores, and Alex Valera will not be available due to injury, while Renato Tapia is suspended. Despite everything, Yoshimar Yotún was clear beforehand: «We have no margin for error, we only benefit from winning» .
The last encounter between the two was on October 11, 2024 , in Lima , where Peru won 1-0 with a goal by Miguel Araújo . Now, at the Centenario , the story will be different: the pressure is on the visitors, who will seek to strike against a Celeste that wants to celebrate their qualification at home.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.