Diego Alonso begins his World Cup journey with a tricky match up against South Korea to begin Group H. The former Inter Miami coach has only been in charge for nine games and has won all four of his competitive games, conceding just once to Venezuela. Unlike his predecessor he prefers a 4-4-2 or occasionally a 4-2-3-1 as we saw in the final qualifier against Chile. The protagonist of the team is no longer Luis Suárez but Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde who alongside Tottenham’s Rodrigo Betancur is part of a high-pressing midfield unit.

Edinson Cavani is the national team’s top scorer in 2022 with five goals, but he is expected to be on the bench with Darwin Núñez and Luis Suárez starting together. Núñez has shown good game intelligence under Alonso, often drifting left to open up spaces for Valverde and Betancur to arrive late. Suárez remains the focal point having scored the most goals, attempted the most shots and had the most touches in the opposition box for Uruguay during the qualifying campaign.

South Korea are coming into the tournament with some good performances from friendlies and also reaching the final of the East Asian cup (where they got beat). With the recent injury of Son Heung-Min, South Korea will be weakened although he will play but we are unsure in what capacity. Paulo Bento has selected a diverse squad of players that cover many roles and I believe he will show what his team are capable of in this first game against giants Uruguay.

Many Sources are predicting Bento will change up the lineup to a 4-4-2 with Hwang Hee-Chan and Son Heung-Min leading the charge. A player to watch is Hwang In-Beom. He has had a really good start to the season at Olympiacos where he links up with his teammate Hwang Ui-Jo. If these two players are played together then it could be dangerous for the opposition defence.

South Korea’s main aim is to control possession throughout the game and push for chances where possible. As a team that plays through the middle, opportunities from corners come very sporadically but when acquired the threat is there from Napoli star Kim Min-Jae. Looking at recent results and the team South Korea have produced against a formidable opponent in Uruguay, I think they will try to control possession and deny Uruguay any opportunity possible. I think there will be goals on both sides, but not many.