Saudi Arabia crashed to a 5-0 defeat in their opening match against Russia, and Uruguay’s esteemed strike partnership of Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez threatens to further damage their goal difference on Wednesday. Can they avoid being added to the nominations for the worst World Cup teams?
Points 0, goal difference -12
A 10-1 pummelling by Hungary in their opener (the most goals conceded in a World Cup match) set the tone. The war-torn country arrived as heroes in Spain but were shunned on their return; the 36-year-old manager Mauricio Rodríguez was blacklisted and never coached again. Qualifying for the World Cup was a miracle but their preparation was badly hampered; they landed three days before that humbling in Elche – in which the substitute Laszlo Kiss scored a seven-minute hat-trick – without their full squad, two popular players jettisoned in favour of officials at the last moment. For those who did make it, there were not enough tracksuits or balls. Politics ruled. “The country was in deep suffering and we had the pressure of trying to reduce it,” the midfielder Mauricio Alfaro said. Before their second game they sought to restore some confidence by rising to the challenge offered by the waiters at the team’s hotel. They duly stuffed them before masterclasses in damage limitation against Belgium (1-0) and Argentina (2-0). Nevertheless, they returned home humiliated.