South Korea will lock horns with Uruguay in Group H opening fixture at the Education City Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
South Korea are in Group H alongside Uruguay, Ghana and Portugal at the mundial.
Uruguay have failed to win the six of their last seven openers at the mundial and would like to avert the situation to increase their chances of qualifying from the tough group.
Uruguay head coach, Diego Alonso has emphatically stated their main goal of winning the 2022 World Cup after averaging two goals per game this year.
Diego Alonso have turned around the fortunes of Uruguay after taking over from Oscar Tabarez- after fifteen years in charge- late last year after endangering their World Cup qualification with four successive defeats in the South American qualifiers.
Diego Alonso won all four remaining games in the qualifiers to secure a spot in Qatar for La Celeste, beating Chile and Paraguay in the process and have conceded just two goals in nine games since his takeover.
Experience attacking duo, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani alongside Darwin Nunez will be crucial for the two time World champions.
The Asian nation, South Korea will be making their tenth successive World Cup appearances but only managed to progress from the group stage twice.
Their shocking fourth-place finish on home soil in 2002 remains their highlight in the global showpiece.
South Korea come into this fixture in high spirit after winning five of their last seven outings.
Injury to Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min was a big blow but their leading marksman has promised to do whatever it takes for him to feature for his country.
Paulo Bento confirmed that "Sonny will be able to play,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I think the fact that he will be wearing a mask is not an inconvenience for him."
South Korea conceded just three goals in ten their final qualifiers to secure their World Cup ticket.
The 2002 semi-finalists surprised the world in 2018 by defeating then reigning World champions Germany in the group stage, but lost to Mexico and Sweden to exit the competition from the group stage.
Team News
Ronald Araujo may not start the game for Uruguay after sustaining a thigh injury.
Heung-min Son is likely to start for South Korea but will wear protective mask.
Head-to-head(last five games)
Uruguay: 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.
South Korea: 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.
Probable Lineups;
Uruguay: Rochet; Varela, Godin, Gimenez, Olivera; Bentancur, Vecino, Valverde; De Arrascaeta, L Suarez, Nunez.
South Korea: Kim Seung-gyu; Kim Moon-hwan, Kim Young-gwon, Kim Min-jae, Kim Jin-su; Jung Woo-Young, Hwang In-beom, Lee Jae-sung; Hwang Hee-chan, Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo.
Match Officials
Referee: Clement Turpin
Assistant 1 and 2: Nicolas Danos and Cyril Gringore
Fourth referee: Istvan Kovacs.
Kickoff Time:
13:00 GMT
By: Abdul Razak Salim
