SportsPosted at: Oct 5 2026 9:33PM


India’s run against World Cup teams has one final act: Uruguay

Kolkata, Oct 5 (UNI) India’s run against World Cup opposition reaches its final act on Tuesday, when two-time world champions Uruguay await at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan here.
It has already been a window of contrasting lessons for Khalid Jamil’s side. The 1-1 draw against Panama in Bengaluru supplied belief; the 4-0 defeat to Brazil two nights ago in Kolkata demonstrated how quickly the game can be taken away by opponents operating at the highest level. Now comes another test, and a rather different one.
If Brazil asked India to cope with speed, movement and individual flair, Uruguay will bring the traditional South American virtues of intensity, aggression and physicality alongside considerable technical quality.
Ranked 20th in the world, La Celeste arrive as two-time world champions and with Darwin Núñez, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ronald Araújo, José María Giménez and Lucas Torreira among a squad packed with players accustomed to elite-level football.
Jamil knows what is coming. “As I said, they are physically strong, so we have to match them. Tactically also, they are good,” the India head coach said in the pre-match press conference on Monday. “Depending on the situation, we must act. If required to defend, we will defend. If it is required to attack, we will go for it.”
There is also the question of recovery. India have had barely 72 hours since Brazil, while Uruguay have spent six days in Kolkata adapting to the conditions. Yet neither Jamil nor Akash Mishra wanted fatigue to become an excuse.
“This is what the game demands from the players,” Mishra said, accompanying Jamil in the press conference. “We have to play, whether it’s two days or three or whatever. For me as a player, I will always be prepared. We have to be ready to perform well.”
The disappointment of Saturday has not disappeared either. Mishra admitted the mood after the 0-4 loss “was not good” and said he had barely slept afterwards and spent the night watching the game again. His biggest takeaway was simple: against teams of this level, concentration cannot flicker. “One mistake will cost us very badly,” Jamil said. “We have to be very careful.”
Uruguay arrive with their own scars. Their 2026 World Cup ended at the group stage without a victory, and Diego Forlán subsequently took charge in August. His tenure began with a 1-3 defeat against Japan before La Celeste responded by beating Korea Republic 4-1, with Núñez scoring twice.
Federico Valverde is absent through injury, with Emiliano Martínez called up in his place. Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Sebastián Cáceres have also returned home injured, while Brian Rodríguez is unavailable. But even without them, the depth and pedigree of the visitors leave India facing another substantial step up.
Forlán, however, was unwilling to treat the fixture as a formality. The former Uruguay striker knows Indian football better than most visiting international coaches, having spent six months with Mumbai City FC in 2016. Back in the country almost exactly a decade later, this time as national-team coach, Forlán recalled playing across India and encountering both talented players and passionate football cities.
“There’s never an easy game in football,” he said. “We will try to do our best and enjoy our game tomorrow against India.”
Having watched India against Brazil, Forlán also saw enough to issue his players a warning. “You could see some combinations, some long balls, some good players,” he said. “If you give them time and space, they can damage you, and they can play well. So you have to respect everybody.”
Forlán’s return also gives the fixture a familiar thread. He scored five times in 12 appearances for Mumbai City in the 2016 ISL and shared the dressing room with Sunil Chhetri. Uruguay themselves have history here. The countries’ only recognised senior meeting came at Eden Gardens in 1982, when La Celeste beat India 3-1 in the Nehru Cup.
But Tuesday is less about looking backwards than measuring what India can carry forward.
Panama showed them they could compete. Brazil showed how unforgiving the elite can be. Uruguay now offer one last examination of the body as much as the mind: win the duels, survive the pressure, stay concentrated and find the courage to play when possession finally arrives.
Mishra perhaps summed up the mood best. “We knew the calibre of all three teams, and we were prepared for them,” he said. “Two are done, one more to go, and we have to finish on a very, very good note.”
The match will kick off at 19:30 IST and will be broadcast on the Sony Sports Network, Sony LIV and Sony Aath.
UNI BM
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