Further reading
Uruguay are looking dangerous, even though they’ve seen off some weak opposition. They can defend and Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are up and running in front of goal. Russia, though, have plenty of room for improvement before their second-round match. That’s all from me. Thanks for reading and emailing. Bye.
Would you rather see Luis Suarez v Sergio Ramos or Luis Suarez v Pepe in the second round? Good luck deciding.
This is a match report.
Saudi Arabia came from behind to beat Egypt 2-1 in the group’s other game. This was such a weak group. Bring on 48 teams.
“No, not Pele,” Lizz Poulter says. “It was unlucky Scotsman Tommy Boyd - it was the o.g. that reminded me.”
Ah.
A comfortable workout for Uruguay, who have won all three group games without much fuss. They never looked back after Luis Suarez’s early free-kick. Denis Cheryshev’s own goal and Edinson Cavani’s late strike made sure the scoreline provided an accurate reflection of the gap between the two sides. They’re yet to concede a goal and will be a tough proposition for Spain, Portugal or Iran in the second round. Russia? Less so. This was a reality check for the hosts, who lost Igor Smolnikov to a red card.
Full-time: Uruguay 3-0 Russia
Peep! Peep! Peep! Uruguay have won Group A at Russia’s expense!
Updated
90 min+3: Maxi Gomez replaces Edinson Cavani.
90 min+1: There will be four added minutes.
Torreira whips the corner in and the unmarked Godin heads it towards the right corner. Akinfeev makes the save but Cavani beats Suarez to the rebound and opens his account for the tournament from a yard out.
GOAL! Uruguay 3-0 Russia (Cavani, 90 min)
Cavani finally gets his goal!
Updated
90 min: Rodriguez creeps down the left, looks up and pings a shot towards the top-left corner from 25 yards. Akinfeev leaps to push it over. And...
88 min: Samedov overcooks a free-kick for the third time. Abysmal.
87 min: Akinfeev has to claw Torreira’s corner away from under the crossbar. That was going in!
86 min: Cavani, desperate for a goal, sees a shot deflected over. Poor Edinson. No goals from games against Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
84 min: Smolov trundles into the area from the left, brilliantly beats Torreira and drives a low cross straight at Muslera.
82 min: Akinfeev punches Rodriguez’s swerving 25-yarder away. Uruguay win a corner. Kudriashov is down after falling awkwardly during a collision with Suarez.
Updated
80 min: Uruguay break, Cavani leading a two-on-one counter. He plays it to Suarez, who tries to knock the pass back to his partner, only to overcook it. Too casual.
79 min: “I have various reactions to today’s game but I’ll settle for posing this question,” Lizz Poulter says. “Who scored the winning goal in holders Brazil’s opening game of France 1998?”
Pele.
77 min: Torreira goes down holding his right ankle. He was caught by Kuzyaev.
76 min: Dzyuba reminds me of Nikola Zigic, which isn’t a compliment.
74 min: A dismal clearance from Muslera goes straight to Zobin. The midfielder advances under pressure and rolls a pass to the right for Dzyuba, who cuts on to his left foot before slicing a shot high and wide, in the style of a man who’s never kicked a ball before.
73 min: Nahitan Nandez makes way for Cristian Rodriguez.
71 min: Dzyuba goes down after being caught in the face by a zesty aerial challenge from Godin. That’s some Uruguayan retribution for the big man. The VAR checks for a penalty, but Godin isn’t penalised.
Updated
70 min: Dzuyba is a foul machine, a comedy oaf up front. He’s just giving away free-kicks all the time.
69 min: Desperate for a goal, Cavani saunters down the left, cuts into the area and bangs a shot miles wide. Oh Edinson.
Updated
68 min: Uruguay should score. Entertain me.
64 min: Nandez scoots inside and slips a pass through to Cavani, who falls over when Ignashevich comes near him. No penalty.
63 min: Giorgian De Arrascaeta replaces Rodrigo Bentancur, who was on a booking.
60 min: Fyodor Smolov replaces Aleksei Miranchuk. Russia are out of changes.
59 min: Bentancur bustles in from the right, outmuscling Zobnin, and sees a shot blocked after combining with Caceres. Then he picks up a booking for clattering into Zobnin.
Updated
56 min: Russia are exerting a bit of pressure. Uruguay are having a snooze. At least it’s keeping the locals engaged.
52 min: A free-kick to Russia on the right. The volume rises. Not for the first time, though, Samedov launches it into orbit.
50 min: They could probably blow up for full-time now.
47 min: Cavani, yet to open his account, whacks the free-kick into the wall.
46 min: Urugusay get the game underway. Russia have made another change, bringing on Daler Kuzyayev for Gazinskii, who was on a booking. Uruguay are soon off pursuit off another goal, though, and it’s not long before Suarez has won a free-kick 25 yards from goal.
“Very little discussion of who Iran would like to play, I’d point out,” Joseph Harvey says. “I assume Russia.”
Point taken. But I will be surprised if they beat Cristiano Ronaldo.
Updated
Half-time: Uruguay 2-0 Russia
Peep! Peep! Uruguay are cruising thanks to Luis Suarez’s free-kick, Denis Cheryshev’s own goal and Igor Smolnikov’s red card. They’re on course to win Group A at Russia’s expense.
Updated
45 min: There will be two added minutes.
44 min: “Taking off Cheryshev is surely a sign that Russia are throwing in the towel on this one now, and preserving their best player for the last 16 instead of trying to chase a 2-0 deficit with 10 men,” says Christopher Clough. “Probably a decent decision, even though I reckon whoever plays Spain rather than Portugal is at a massive disadvantage.”
42 min: Uruguay are playing keep ball. This could become very boring.
39 min: “I would argue that finishing runner-up is better for Russia as their next game will be played in Moscow, as opposed to the winner of the group playing in Sochi,” Bill O’Leary says. “Plus, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between Spain and Portugal at present.”
This feels like an optimistic reading at the moment.
38 min: Mario Fernandes replaces Denis Cheryshev, Russia’s best player.
37 min: Torreira overhits the free-kick.
RED CARD FOR SMOLNIKOV!
36 min: Laxalt tears down the left flank and he has far too much pace for the Russian right-back, who slides to chop the Uruguayan down. That’s a second booking. Russia are down to 10 men. Can they get Toni Kroos to play for them?
Updated
31 min: Ronaldo could wrap up the Golden Boot if Portugal get Russia in the last 16.
29 min: Suarez is outpaced by the 148-year-old Ignashevich.
28 min: Smolnikov picks up a booking for fouling Vecino. Russia are in danger of imploding. Moments later Bentancur’s racing through the middle of Russia’s non-existent defence after a fine pass from Suarez. He tries to slip the ball under Akinfeev, who stands firm! The ball squirms clear, but Cavani can’t force the rebound home and Russia somehow survive. But they’re flirting with humiliation here.
Updated
27 min: I’m certain that was a Cheryshev own goal. Laxalt will claim it but the replay suggested the shot was going wide.
26 min: Two set-pieces, two goals. Uruguay are stealing England’s thunder! This is identity theft!
Torreira’s corner’s headed away and reaches Laxalt on the edge of the Russia area. Laxalt takes a touch and then lets fly with his left foot. The shot looks to be heading wide - until it hits Cheryshev’s heel and spins low to Akinfeev’s right! That is mightily unfortunate, not that Uruguay care.
GOAL! Uruguay 2-0 Russia (Cheryshev own goal, 23 min)
Cancel the tournament.
Updated
23 min: Dzuyba heads Torreira’s free-kick behind for a Uruguay corner.
22 min: Suarez wins a free-kick on the right, Kudriashov pushing him.
21 min: This is good fun. That is all.
19 min: Cheryshev, who’s a very positive presence on the left, drives at Uruguay again and tries to send in a cross. The ball skews behind. Off a Uruguayan? The referee doesn’t think so. Goal-kick.
17 min: Russia win a corner on the left. Cheryshev swings it in and Dzuyba’s header bounces over. He’d been penalised for a foul, though.
15 min: Amid all the talk of trying to plot a path to the final in the knockout stages, the start to this game feels instructive from an English perspective. For all the arguments about why it would be beneficial to throw the Belgium game in order to avoid Brazil or Germany in the last eight, another way of looking at it is that it would be dangerous to lose momentum. Uruguay are Russia are just playing instead of wondering.
14 min: The Russian corner comes to nothing.
12 min: Back come Russia, looking for an instant response. A long ball’s sent to the left and Dzyuba nods it down to the edge of the area, where Cheryshev arrives to smack a shot straight at Muslera. The goalkeeper punches it out and the ball’s scrambled behind for a corner.
This is magnificent. The free-kick is inside the D, inches outside the area. Ignashevich and Cavani are jostling and pushing on the edge of the wall. They’re slightly blocking Akinfeev’s view. Ignashevich ends up pushing Cavani, but he goes with the Uruguay striker and that opens up the space for Suarez to belt a low, right-footed shot firmly into the bottom-left corner! You always sensed that Russia were in trouble. As it stands, Uruguay are winning the group.
Updated
GOAL! Uruguay 1-0 Russia (Suarez, 10 min)
What a free-kick from Suarez!
Updated
9 min: Russia put themselves in a hole, a desperately poor pass from Samedov sending Suarez haring down the left. The striker cuts inside and tries to pick Cavani out in the middle. The cross is cut out - but the ball runs to Bentancur, who’s brought down by Gazinskii on the edge of the area. The Russian’s booked. And...
8 min: The Samara Arena is in a state of pure frenzy. The noise! The Russian fans are up for this. It’s going to be difficult for Uruguay to keep their cool in this atmosphere.
6 min: Sam Matterface is commentating for ITV. I’ve texted Jason Cundy for his opinion on Sam.
3 min: It is loud.
2 min: Uruguay seem to have lined up in a back four rather than a three. It’s another deceptive teamsheet! This will be debated for days and days on Twitter, no doubt. Enough of that, though. Here come Uruguay, pinching the ball in Russia’s half. Cavani plays it to Vecino, who drills a low shot wide from 25 yards.
Updated
Peep! Russia, all in white, kick off from right to left. Uruguay are in light blue shirts and black shorts and there’s a rare old atmosphere. Ros! Si! Ya! Ros! Si! Ya!
We’ve had the anthems. The locals enjoyed belting out Russia’s. The game will begin imminently.
Here come the teams, marching out at a hot and sunny Samara Arena! “There is a Uruguayan comedian Darwin Desbocatti who describing Coates playing for the national team said that he was like a hand gun in your glove compartment, you are really hoping not having to use it but in some circumstances it can save your life,” Claudia Alen says.
Updated
“I first saw Sebastián Coates at the 2011 Copa América,” Kari Tulinius says. “He looked like he was going to be an legend of centre back, but it never quite worked out for him in England. He’s always been good for Uruguay, though.”
An email! “For some reason I thought Sebastian Coates was Portuguese,” says JR in Illinois. “That’s pretty much all my thoughts regarding this game. I am looking forward to Luis Suarez biting someone again but I know it is extremely unlikely in a relatively meaningless game like this. Starting next round though the odds of him sinking his chompers into someone go way up. Ramos and Pepe are very bite-able.”
JR, why not scour our team guides?
Russia run a lot. Here’s some pre-match reading courtesy of Andrew Roth.
The other game in Group A is Egypt v Saudi Arabia. You can follow the dead rubber here.
Uruguay have changed their system, opting for a 3-5-2. Maybe that will give them more fluidity in attack. They’ve also changed personnel, with Sebastian Coates, Diego Laxalt, Lucas Torreira and Nahitan Nandez in for Guillermo Varela, Jose Gimenez, Carlos Sanchez and Cristian Rodriguez.
Russia make three changes to the side that beat Egypt. Igor Smolnikov is in for Mario Fernandes, Fedor Kudriashov replaces Yuri Zhirkov, 83, and Aleksey Miranchuk makes his World Cup debut after stepping in for Aleksandr Golovin.
Team news
Uruguay: Muslera; Coates, Godin, Caceres; Laxalt, Nandez, Torreira, Bentancur, Vecino; Suarez, Cavani.
Russia: Akinfeev; Smolnikov, Kutepov, Ignashevich, Kurdjasov; Samedov, Gazinskiy, Miranchuk, Zobnin, Cheryshev; Dzyuba.
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (Senegal).
Preamble
Hello. Not much to see here, to be brutally honest. Both of these sides are already through to the round of 16, Russia after crushing Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Uruguay after George Grahaming their way to a couple of forgettable 1-0 victories. You never know, 1-0 to the Uruguay could yet become the chant of the 2018 World Cup.
Russia, of course, will be hoping to become the first side to breach Oscar Tabarez’s defence. The hosts have hit eight goals in their first two matches, which makes them as good as England, and they’re feeling much better about themselves than they were before the start of the tournament. It’s easy to forget how little Russian fans expected from their team, whose form before this all got going had been utterly wretched.
Funny what 90 minutes in the company of Saudi Arabia can do for the confidence – but the reality check could be on the way. Uruguay haven’t exactly flowed yet, but they do have Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez and enviable street smarts when it comes to tournament football. This is a step up in class for Russia and we’ll have a much better idea of their true level after a match that will decide who finishes top of Group A. Russia’s goal difference means they’re in the driving seat at the moment, but Uruguay will overtake them with a win.
It’s likely to be competitive, especially as the team in second will probably have to play Spain next. Mind you, the team in first will probably have Cristiano Ronaldo for company in the next round. Where am I going with this? I don’t know. Back in a minute, I’m off to consult my wallchart.
Kick-off: 3pm BST, 5pm in Samara.
