- Uruguay have won six of their last eight competitive matches
- Bolivia have let in at least three goals in six of their last nine Copa America games
- Recommended bet: Uruguay -2.5 Asian Handicap

Uruguay came into Copa America 2024 as third favourites for a record-breaking 16th continental title, but with La Celeste unable to meet Argentina until the final and with Brazil misfiring on their side of the draw, they will fancy their chances are even better than that.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men made that point in their opening match, dispatching Panama with ease in a 3-1 victory, and they will be confident of seeing off an underwhelming Bolivia side before their likely Group C decider against hosts USA on matchday three.

Bolivia have always struggled when denied the altitude advantage of their home base in La Paz and will surely be looking simply to keep things respectable.

Team news

Uruguay centre-back Ronald Araujo had to be withdrawn at half-time against Panama but should be fit to return having suffered only from dehydration.

The likes of Rodrigo Bentancur and captain Jose Maria Gimenez could start if Bielsa opts to rotate players to keep the squad fresh.

Bolivia have no reported absentees but manager Antonio Carlos Zago is likely to make changes after a disastrous first half against USA that resulted in two goals conceded and three yellow cards. 

Miguel Terceros, Rodrigo Ramallo and Hector Cuellar came on at half-time and will hope to start after helping to deliver an improved second-half showing.

The stats

Uruguay have won 10 of the last 14 meetings with Bolivia, with the four negative results all coming at altitude in La Paz.

Uruguay have won six of their last eight competitive games, with the only defeat in that run coming against Ecuador in Quito — another high-altitude venue.

Bolivia have only once escaped the group stage in their last nine Copa America campaigns, losing their last 12 group-stage games and conceding an average of 2.75 goals per game in those matches. 

La Verde have beaten only Andorra (1-0), Peru and Saudi Arabia since January 2022, losing 19 of those 23 games.

Prediction

Uruguay got their group-stage campaign off to a flying start against a potentially tricky Panama side — who were runners-up at last summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup — and with Bolivia being a genuine minnow at this level, Bielsa will know that qualification is already all-but assured.

That may tempt the highly respected head coach to rotate against an opponent ranked 85th in the world — for context, Uruguay are 11th — to keep players fresh for tougher tests to come.

However, even a second-string Uruguay team would expect to outclass an opponent they have beaten by at least two goals in each of their last six meetings outside of La Paz — even once defeating them 2-0 there during that run — so any changes are hugely unlikely to open the door to an upset.

Moreover, Bielsa is unlikely to rest more than a handful of first-team players and with Tottenham’s Bentancur and Atletico Madrid’s Gimenez coming on from the bench against Panama, the depth of quality in the squad is evident. 

With the likes of veteran striker Luis Suarez itching to get on in the latter stages to use his nous against tiring Bolivian legs, this could be a long evening for the underdogs.

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