Having kept a clean sheet in the opening match of each of their last two FIFA World Cup campaigns, Uruguay conceded a surprise goal to Saudi Arabia in their first match of the 2026 World Cup.
The Saudi goal came through Al-Akhdar defender Abdulilah Al-Amri in the 41st minute of the match played on Monday evening local time, in the first round of Group 8 of the group stage of the tournament, currently being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia player Abdulilah Al-Amri scored the Green Falcons' first goal after latching onto a rebound from Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, following a corner kick that Mohammed Kanno met with a powerful header.
The last time Uruguay's net had been breached in a World Cup opening match was at the 2014 edition held in Brazil, when they suffered a heavy 1–3 defeat to Costa Rica.
In their opening match of the following edition in 2018 in Russia, Uruguay beat Egypt 1–0, before continuing to keep clean sheets in their tournament openers at the 2022 edition in Qatar, when they drew 0–0 with South Korea.