For the Egyptians, Mohamed Salah’s fitness has been said is almost 100% which means that he is more than likely to start. For the duration of the tournament and looking longer-term, it would be more practical to start him on the bench and bring him on the second-half given the nature of his injury. Not only will he be short of match action and lacking in fitness, it does not seem wise to throw him straight back into what promises to be a demanding and physical game.

However, the pure quality of Salah would make it almost impossible for any manager to leave him out of their starting XI. The rest of the team, as outlined in Egypt’s preview, may line up as follows:

Goal
El Shenawy

Defence
Ahmed Hegazi 
Ahmed Fathi, 
Mohamed Shafy
Saad Samir 

Midfield

Sam Morsy
Tarek Hamed

Forward

Marwan Mohsen

Uruguay, on the other hand, will be looking to go further than they did in Brazil’s 2014 World Cup, bowing out to Colombia after a 2-0 defeat in the round of 16. A variety of youth and experience, raw talent and world-class players will surely bode well for this side who must be desperate to reach the similar heights of their compatriots, Brazil and Argentina.

Manager Oscar Tabarez can call upon the experience of Galatasary goalkeeper, Fernando Muslera. Defenders Diego Godin, from Atletico Madrid, and Sebastian Coates of Sporting Lisbon should be at the heart of Uruguay’s back four. In midfield, the young talents of Juventus’ Rodrigo Bentacur and Boca Juniors’ Nahitan Nandez are expected to be given a start. Up front, Barcelona’s prolific striker, Luis Suarez, who is playing his first World Cup game since biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini four years ago. Suarez will be accompanied upfront by Paris St-German’s Edinson Cavani of which they have 93 international goals between them. The predicted full team line-up is as follows: