Cape Verde continued their remarkable start to the World Cup after earning a hard-fought 2-2 draw against Uruguay.

The tournament debutants took the lead before Uruguay fought back, but Cape Verde showed tremendous resilience to claim another impressive result and keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stages firmly alive.

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URUGUAY 2-2 CAPE VERDE

• Goals: M Araujo, Canobbio | Varela, Lenini
• Assists: M Araujo, Valverde | Arcanjo
• Top points scorers: M Araujo (13), Pina (11), Canobbio (9), Varela (9)

TEAM STATS

PLAYER STATS

SCOUT NOTES

• Both managers made several changes to their starting XIs. Uruguay boss Marcelo Bielsa replaced Matías Viña ($4.3m) with Juan Manuel Sanabria ($4.5m) at left-back, while a reshuffle in attack saw Darwin Núñez ($7.5m) drop out in favour of Agustín Canobbio ($5.3m). Cape Verde kept the same back four that held Spain but brought Garry Rodrigues ($4.7m), Telmo Arcanjo ($4.9m) and Gilson Benchimol ($5.0m) into the attack.
• Uruguay dominated most of the key attacking metrics, as expected. They generated 2.32 expected goals (xG), registered five more attempts and won seven more corners. However, they created just one more big chance than Cape Verde, highlighting how competitive the match actually was.
• The first half produced most of the action. Uruguay went into the break with a 2-1 lead after an entertaining opening 45 minutes.
• Cape Verde briefly stunned their opponents when Kevin Pina ($4.7m) rifled a superb free-kick into the net from outside the penalty area. The goal helped him to an impressive 11-point Fantasy return.
• The standout performer, however, was Maxi Araújo ($6.4m). After Rodrigo Bentancur ($6.0m) struck the post, Araújo reacted quickest to head home the rebound. He then turned provider before half-time, nodding a long ball into the path of Canobbio, who calmly finished from close range. That return earned Araújo 13 points, adding to the 10 he collected in Round 1.
• Outside of his goal, Canobbio struggled to make another decisive contribution. Even so, he still produced two key passes and two attempts on goal, while completing the full 90 minutes.
• Fantasy managers may have expected more from Federico Valverde ($7.5m). Although he collected a Fantasy assist, he failed to convert any of his seven attempts on goal despite producing 0.53 xG and striking the woodwork once.
• Despite dominating large spells of the match, Uruguay have still left plenty of questions unanswered with their overall performances in the tournament so far. Reflecting on the draw, Bielsa said:

“We started the match well. For the opening 20 to 25 minutes, up until their goal, we produced our best football. We recovered possession quickly and that allowed us to attack with confidence. After conceding, we struggled for a period, but we finished the first half strongly. We scored twice and I thought we deserved to go into the break ahead. At the start of the second half we controlled possession, but we didn’t use it well. We weren’t creating danger. After they equalised, we had to chase the game again. We created enough chances to win, but we also became too open and gave the opposition opportunities to hurt us.” – Marcelo Bielsa

• The draw leaves Uruguay with no margin for error heading into Round 3. Marcelo Bielsa’s side must beat Spain to keep their World Cup campaign alive. Looking ahead to that decisive fixture, Bielsa also provided an update on his squad’s fitness situation:

“Giorgian De Arrascaeta and Ronald Araújo won’t be available for the match against Spain. As for Nicolás De la Cruz, I can’t say whether he will be able to play 45 minutes or a full match. He worked extremely hard to be fit for this World Cup after playing very few minutes for Flamengo during the first half of the year. I managed his minutes according to what the game required.” – Marcelo Bielsa

• It’s a different story for Cape Verde, though. The second-half goal from Hélio Varela ($4.9m) meant two heroic draws against both Spain and Uruguay. That also means that if Cape Verde beat Saudi Arabia and Uruguay defeat Spain, Spain would drop to third place in the group. However, if Cape Verde wins and Uruguay only draws with Spain, Uruguay could still qualify as one of the best third-placed teams. Meanwhile, if Cape Verde draws with Saudi Arabia and Uruguay also draws with Spain, Cape Verde could still progress as a best third-placed side.
• Both sides have a genuine chance of progressing, then. However, some doubt remains over how much potential their assets have heading into Round 3.