20' Darwin provides support on the right wing. Quick passes and he shoots from inside the box. India covers the angles well and its corner for the away side.
19' Tekcham almost finds Manvir with a through pass but Bentancur intercepts it.
17' Ryan wanted to play 1-2-1 with Edmund but Edmund made the through pass run. Some misunderstanding led to an early end of the attack opportunity.
16' India tracks back to stop the counter attack. The ball shifts from the left to the center semi circle. Vinas shoots on the right. The grounder clatters against the post past Gurpreet's dive.
14' Silly from Apuia! He intercepts it with plenty of space ahead. He decides to shoot from that far out instead of advancing ahead. Way off target with no power on it.
13' Ashique floats it in from right wing . Headed and cleared out of the box.
12' Despite the early conceded goal, India looks promising on the field. A lot of grit remains to be displayed.
11' GOAL Slow run-up and Darwin opens the book by sending it left as Gurpreet dives on the right.
10' Penalty for Uruguay! Vinas is brought down by Pramveer with untimely challenge in the box.
10' India is taking it to Uruguay in the first 10 minutes.
9' WHAT A MISS! Edmund gets a clutch pass from Ryan's press. Defender slides in to block his shot from inside the box!
9' Thapa cleverly plays it down the line but the referee calls it offside!
8' Freekick from India. Edmund earns it. A little more than 25 yards out.
7' Early press in opponent half and they send it forward aerially on the left lane. Tekcham is there to cover it out for a goalkick.
6' Long throw from Akash. A brilliant attempt on the rebound by Anwar and the ball flies over the bar! Close!
5' Tekcham plays brilliantly after Apuia lost the ball in the midfield. Throw for India!
4' Ryan and Edmund up front with Manvir on the right wing this time.
3' Long ball from defence but the striker heads it behind instead of carrying it forward. Mistake from Darwin!
3' Apuia stays calm under pressure. Takes on two players simultaneously but keep the ball.
2' Ashique completely misjudged the pass down the wing. Pramveer with the clutch sliding clearance from deep inside the box!
1' Zalazar intecepts the forward pass and plays it across to the left wing.
0' KICKOFF The match has begun! Jai Hind!
India plays from the Right in the first half. India kicks it off.
Please stand for the Uruguay National Anthem and National Anthem.
The players have arrived on the field.
The players are ready in the dugout, ready to come out! Let's show the world what Indian football really means! For one last time this FIFA Int'l Window! 💙🐯
The stage is set. Just a few more minutes left for an exciting 90 minutes to begin!
<b>The main referee for this match is from Uzbekistan : Rustam Lutfullin.</b> He has been present in ACL Elite, ACL 2 and FIFA WC Asian Qualifiers. In the previous match against Brazil, the referees were quite accurate to catch Brazil when they were caught in the offside trap. In such high-intensity matches, referees play a crucial factor by delivering proper decisions and accurate calls.
Just 17 mins remain till Kickoff!
A few sprints to finish it off. The South American Nation follows suit.
Indian Football Team has retreated back into the dugout.
Apart from shooting drills, they are practicing crosses too! One shot from semi circle, go into the box and finish the cross. Quite efficient!
Quite an effective way to practice pressing and quick one touch passes. We've seen this in general. It didnt last for long but it was interesting to see this in the pre-match warm-ups. Not many teams do this!
The yellow shirts shift according to the need of the coloured shirts that have possession. They are not static.
Two yellow shirts stand in the middle of the edge lines as neutral passers. Four red and blue shirts pass the ball around.
They have drawn a big square box with tape in their half for final preparations. Quite a unique way to practice before the match.
Uruguay has arrived on the field as well. Its amazing to watch the World Ranked #20 practice at the iconic VYBK!
India has arrived on the field to start the warm-up session.
India will play the game in their Orange Jersey today and Uruguay will play in their Sky Blue and Pink Jersey Shorts.
Just one hour remains till Kickoff!
<b>2 Changes in the Starting XI for India :</b> Sahal Abdul Samad is replaced by Edmund Lalrindika and Bijoy Varghese is replaced by Pramveer.
<b>Substitutes for Uruguay:</b> Santiago Mele (GK), Ronald Araujo, Facundo Bernal, Rodrigo Aguirre, Facundo Pellistri, Guillermo Varela, Lucas Torreira, Jamier Fiermarin (GK), Juman Camelo, Juan Sanabria.
<b>Substitutes for India :</b> Bijoy Varghese, Rahim Ali, Mohammed Sanan, Prabhsukhan Gill (GK), Vikram Pratap Singh, Ricky Shabong, Macarton Louis Nickson, Sahal Abdul Samad, Farukh Choudhary, Valpuia, Albino Gomes, Irfan Yadwad, Mehtab Singh, Som Kumar (GK).
<b>Uruguay (4-3-3) :</b> Thiago Gaston (GK) ; Alvaro Mourino, Joaquin Moreira, Jose Gimenez (C), Michel Acosta ; Emiliano Martinez, Rodrigo Zalazar, Rodrigo Bentancur ;Darwin Nunez, Fedrico Vinas Barbosa, Maximiliano Araujo. <b>Head Coach : </b> Diego Forlan.
<b>India (4-4-2) :</b> Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK) (C) ; Tekcham Abhishek Singh , Pramveer, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra ; Ashique Karuniyan, Anirudh Thapa, Apuia, Edmund Lalrindika ; Manvir Singh, Ryan Williams. <b>Head Coach : </b> Khalid Jamil.
<b>LINEUPS ARE OUT!</b>
The first 25 minutes against Brazil was the best form India has played in a long while! Forget about holding off, in some special moments, India dominated the scenes on the pitch. As the time rolled down, the lack of concentration and quality slowly got exposed. Still we have one thing to be proud of: some players played their best their entire time on the pitch. We gave a fight. Bruno Guimaraes said, he has become a fan of Indian football. One day, the entire Brazil nation will become fans!
India put up a resilient performance against Panama in Bengaluru. A draw against the World Cup 2026 participants motivated the Blue Tigers to put their best foot forward against Brazil.
India is about to face World Ranked #20 4-time World Cup Champions, Uruguay!
Read the Match Preview : <a href="https://www.mbft.in/2026/10/india-uruguay-match-preview.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MBFT Match Preview Article</a>
Hello and Welcome to the India vs Uruguay, International Friendly, Live Match Commentary by Anik Nandi, MBFT.
LIVE : FIRST HALF | INDIA | 0 - 1 | URUGUAY
