Uruguay is one of the top three teams in world football, having won the World Cup twice and has had many top stars in its history.
Now with the aging of stars such as Suarez and Cavani, Uruguay's new generation is showing a blowout trend, with three strong players in the midfield position alone, Valverde + Ugarte + Bentancur's combination is worthy of any giant team, and the combined value of these three is close to 200 million euros!
NO.1 (Valverde, 25 years old, worth 100 million euros)
Valverde was born on 22 July 1998 and made his debut in the youth academy of Uruguayan giants Penarol. Valverde has been an absolute mainstay of Uruguay's youth teams at all levels since he was a child, and in the summer of 2016, Real Madrid bought the 18-year-old for 5 million euros.
After spending a season in Real Madrid's youth team, Valverde was loaned to Deportivo La Coruna for training, and in the 2018-19 season Valverde returned to Real Madrid, where he started as a substitute at the star-studded Bernabeu and gradually became an indispensable midfield for La Liga giants. So far, Valverde has scored 19 goals and provided 18 assists in 233 appearances for Real Madrid.
Standing at 1.82 meters tall and weighing 78 kilograms, Valverde is a typical regular hexagonal warrior with all skills and no obvious shortcomings, and can adapt to all positions except the goalkeeper. After Carlo Ancelotti switched to 442 this season, Valverde has been doing well in the right-back position, scoring one goal and providing two assists in 30 appearances.
In the Uruguayan national team, Valverde and Ugarte are paired in two central midfielders, acting as a barrier in the midfield with excellent physical fitness and all-round attacking and defensive ability. So far, Valverde has made 55 appearances for the Uruguayan national team, scoring six goals and providing two assists.
NO.2 (Ugarte, 22 years old, worth 60 million euros)
Born on April 11, 2001, Ugarte debuted with Uruguayan Athletic La Fenice, moved to Portuguese Super League team Famalicão for 9.1 million euros in January 2021, and transferred to Sporting de Portugal for 13 million euros after only half a season.
Ugarte is a typical defensive midfielder, full of energy, fierce and good at tackling, and he averaged 3.9 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game in the Portuguese Super League last season, and was an iron gate in midfield.
Ugarte, who moved to Paris Saint-Germain for €60 million last summer, has also been a regular in midfield at Ligue 1 giants, and has played 21 games so far, averaging 3.64 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game, while also having a 92% pass completion rate and two assists.
He has been a regular defensive midfielder since making his debut in 2021 for the Uruguayan national team, making 13 appearances for the Uruguayan team so far.
NO.3 (Bentancur, 26 years old, worth 35 million euros)
Born on 25 June 1997, Bentancur made his debut with Boca Juniors in Argentina and moved to Serie A giants Juventus for €22 million in the summer of 2017.
Bentancur is also an all-round midfielder, although he is more attacking, with dribbling and passing being his strengths. However, his performances at Juventus have been tepid, with a few mistakes, and Bentancur has scored three goals and provided 18 assists in 181 appearances in five seasons.
In the 2022 winter window, Bentancur moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, and after a period of adaptation, he performed well in the 2022-23 season, scoring goals and assists as a main midfielder, but in February 2023 Bentancur suffered a serious cruciate ligament tear and suffered a serious injury for eight months, and did not return until the end of October.
However, a month later, he rested for a month with a torn ankle ligament and only returned to the last three games. However, his form has been good, and in the 21st round of the Premier League away to Manchester United, Bentancur scored with a powerful left-footed shot from a tight angle in the 46th minute. He has made 51 appearances for Tottenham so far, scoring seven goals and providing six assists.
In the Uruguayan team, Bentancur has been mainly active in the middle, responsible for organising and waiting for opportunities to get forward, and he has scored one goal and provided two assists in 56 appearances for Uruguay so far.
Write at the end
In the World Cup qualifiers in South America, Uruguay ranked 2nd with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, only behind the world champion Argentina. What was even more surprising was that they won 2-0 against Brazil and Argentina respectively, and the momentum was quite strong.
It is foreseeable that with the return of Bentancur from injury, Uruguay has a strong midfield iron triangle, plus Nunez who is worth 65 million euros on the front line, Araujo who is worth 70 million euros on the backline, and Simonez who is worth 30 million euros, Uruguay's squad can be said to be very luxurious, and don't forget that the Uruguayan team is also the champion of the U20 World Cup!
How far can Uruguay go at the 2026 World Cup, and can they replicate their 2010 results and reach the semi-finals?