Brazil vs. Uruguay score, result as Gerson cancels out Fede Valverde in World Cup qualifying draw

Protecting an unbeaten record against Uruguay on home turf in World Cup qualifying, Brazil ground out a point as they played to a 1-1 draw in Bahia on Tuesday evening to close out the 2024 calendar year of international football.

In a game devoid of much final-third quality, Federico Valverde’s deflected opener was canceled out minutes later by a fine finish from Brazil midfielder Gerson.

Aside from the two goals, the only dangerous chance came in first-half stoppage time, as Sergio Rochet made a smart save on a header from Igor Jesus. Otherwise, there was little to savor in a physical battle that saw both sides effort to build forward with intent but struggle to produce anything memorable on the end of those moves.

While Uruguay remain without victory at Brazil in this all-important competition, they will take the point that keeps them second in the table, still above their counterparts who drop to fifth as they're leapt by Ecuador.

The Sporting News followed the Brazil vs. Uruguay match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happened.

Brazil vs. Uruguay final score

Kickoff: 7:45 p.m. ET / 4:45 p.m. PT)
Location: Arena Fonte Nova (Bahia, Brazil)
Referee: Piero Maza Gomez (CHI)

Starting lineups:

Brazil (4-2-3-1, right to left): 23. Ederson (GK) — 2. Danilo, 4. Marquinhos, 14. Gabriel, 16. Abner (Henrique, 58') — 15. Gerson (Paqueta, 86'), 5. Guimaraes (Andre, 86') — 20. Savinho (Estevao, 73'), 10. Raphinha, 7. Vinicius Jr. — 9. I. Jesus (Martinelli, 58').

Uruguay (4-3-3, right to left): Rochet (GK) — 13. Varela, 2. Gimenez, 16. M. Olivera, 3. Saracchi — 15. Valverde, 5. Ugarte, 6. Bentancur — 11. Pellistri (J. Rodriguez, 66'), 9. Nunez (Aguirre, 46'), 20. M. Araujo (Olivera, 81').

MORE: Find out how to stream the Brazil vs. Uruguay match LIVE

Brazil vs. Uruguay live updates, highlights from World Cup qualifying

FULLTIME: Brazil 1-1 Uruguay

This game had the two goals...and little else. Both sides won't be upset to snatch a point, especially Uruguay who remain second in the table, but Brazil will feel miffed not to have put up more of a fight as they plummet to fifth. Just six matches remain for them to rescue their standing. Not exactly a classic tonight from Arena Fonte Nova.

89th min: Lucas Paqueta picks up a booking just minutes after coming on, as he is careless to let a pass roll away from his feet. The ball rolls to Rodrigo Bentancur and the West Ham man cleans him out.

Four minutes of added time are shown.

85th min: The referee has to separate Raphinha from a scuffle after a bad tackle on Matias Olivera. The Barcelona man is on a yellow card, which has the Uruguay players vocal as they protest for another. Jose Gimenez is incensed with something said during the scuffle, and pleads with the official for further punishment.

As that happens, Brazil make a double change with Lucas Paqueta and Andre entering to replace both midfielders, Gerson and Bruno Guimaraes.

81st min: There's a bit of desperation in the air on both sides now as we reach the final 10 minutes. Raphinha blazes a shot just over the crossbar from a good distance out, before Guillermo Varela is booked for a foul on Vinicius down left edge.

Cristian Olivera comes on for Uruguay to replace Maxi Araujo.

73rd min: Savinho, who has done little in this match, is withdrawn in favor of Palmeiras teenager Estevao. The 17-year-old comes on for his fourth international cap in a big spot.

69th min: Raphinha is booked for a nasty foul from behind on Maxi Araujo who's left screaming on the pitch as the referee shows his opponent a yellow card.

66th min: Yikes! Uruguay nearly make another mess of things at the back, as the ball squirts free just two yards in front of goal, but it's eventually cleared after a few nervy seconds with no Brazil attacker in the area to pounce. That's not the first time Brazil have failed to finish a free ball in front of net!

Uruguay are forced into a change as Facundo Pellistri walks off slowly appearing to be laboring with some kind of knock. He's replaced by Jose Rodriguez.

62nd min: GOAL! BRAZIL! THE HOSTS ARE LEVEL AFTER JUST SEVEN MINUTES! Gerson is the one to draw even, with a DELICIOUS volleyed effort on a ball that's not cleared deep enough by the Uruguay defense! After an hour of miserable finishing, Gerson crops up with a truly lovely strike!

59th min: Sergio Rochet makes a meal of a deflected cross by Raphinha from down the left edge of the penalty area, leading to an awkward moment for the Uruguay back line, but there's no Brazil player there to finish the chance.

Brazil head coach Dorival Junior goes to his bench for the first time, calling upon Gabriel Martinelli and Luiz Henrique to replace Igor Jesus and Abner.

55th min: GOAL! URUGUAY! In a game plagued by terrible finishing, it's fitting that a massive deflection off a defender leads to the opening goal! With play all but ground to a halt as Uruguay possessed just outside the penalty area, Max Araujo passed to Federico Valverde who cut laterally on his right and delivered an effort with good pace and height.

The ball strikes Gabriel on the way through, which drags it past a diving Ederson for the opener!

VALVERDE WITH A STUNNER VS. BRAZIL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/BseWvxQQPf

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 20, 2024

53rd min: Chance, Brazil! Vinicius Jr. drags a shot wide from the left side! It's yet another scuffed effort by a forward in this game, as he seems to catch the ball with too much of his heel and not enough of his foot. Rinse, repeat.

50th min: Instead of a promise for more quality, the first five minutes of the second half were a car crash. Bodies are toppling over each other at a rapid rate, and the referee has to keep the lid on the pot on multiple occasions.

2nd half kickoff: They're back under way in Bahia hoping for an improvement for both sides in front of net.

Uruguay make the only substitution of the halftime break as Darwin Nunez is brought off and replaced by Rodrigo Aguirre who earns his second international cap. You have to wonder if that's a tactical decision, or if the free-kick Nunez took straight to the forehead had some lingering effects. Liverpool will have some concerns.

HALFTIME: Brazil 0-0 Uruguay

Both sides looked excited to win the ball back and drive forward towards the opposition net, but both nations short-circuited when they entered the penalty area. A 45 minutes full of attacking intent but severely lacking in final product.

Ultimately, it results in a drab opening frame that lacked clear-cut chances on net until the final moments of the half.

45+2 min: Chance, Brazil! In the second of two minutes of added time, Sergio Rochet is forced to make an excellent save on the game's first true chance on goal! A Brazil corner is fizzed towards the mouth of goal, and Igor Jesus produces a delightful headed flick at the near post, but from a tight angle, it only finds the palms of the Uruguay goalkeeper who parries it in front of him before the ball is thumped away by Rochet himself!

That's by far the best chance of the game, and it comes in the final seconds of the first half!

41st min: Rodrigo Bentancur bodies Vinicius Jr. to the ground as he looks to once again dribble down the heart of the Uruguay defense. Not only does the Tottenham midfielder concede a dangerous free-kick about 15 yards from goal, he also picks up a deserved yellow card for his troubles.

Vini and Raphinha stand over the ball, and it's Raphinha with his left foot who smacks the wall. Another poor attempt on goal, and this one leaves a victim flat on his back as Darwin Nunez is slow to get up after absorbing the pacey delivery to the dome.

39th min: Chance, Uruguay! Nobody steps to Fede Valverde as he dribbles tentatively towards goal, so he decides to have a go from just inside the penalty area. He has acres of space to shoot, which seems to surprise him, and his effort is again scuffed wide right.

The final product is severely lacking on both ends of the pitch tonight. It's been exceedingly poor from both teams with good chances to strike.

35th min: Chance, Brazil! Raphinha takes a speculative effort with his left food but he scuffs it and drags the shot weakly across the face of goal, and it rolls harmlessly out of play. Brazil have been poor in the penalty area thus far.

29th min: Gerson is flabbergasted as he's called for a foul on Facundo Pellistri outside the Brazil penalty area. He's livid as it appeared Pellistri touched the ball with his support arm as he went to ground before the Brazil midfielder then pushed him flat on the turf.

The decision gives Uruguay a very dangerous free-kick shaded towards the top-right corner of the penalty area, but the set-piece effort from Federico Valverde is disappointing and skitters well wide of the right post, never looking a threat.

20th min: Chance, Uruguay! Uruguay have the game's first corner, but the fizzed delivery to the far post is cleared by Brazil and sent into midfield.

However, it's not fully turned away and the visitors charge right back towards Ederson's net. They end up in a great position to score, but Facundo Pellistri completely whiffs with his wild hack at the ball! He's just 10 yards from goal but can't pull the trigger! Then, moments later, Uruguay get two more crosses towards the mouth of goal but neither finds the target! A number of close calls for Brazil at the back.

12th min: The referee has a decision to make as Vinicius Jr. looks to split the last two defenders with a powerful run, and goes to ground as he's sandwiched by the two Uruguayans! The Chilean official waves play on, and wags a finger at the Real Madrid man! It appeared to be the right call live.

6th min: A truly delicious vertical through-ball from Raphinha springs Gerson through on goal, but the ball is just barely too cooked, which allows Sergio Rochet to come bravely off his line and smother the chance. The Brazil midfielder gets there just a split-second late, and Rochet takes the brunt of the challenge to the face. He needs treatment but is eventually back to his feet.

3rd min: Brazil are pressing very high to start this match, and it's causing lots of problems for Uruguay in possession. The hosts win the ball back, but Savinho and Raphinha get in each other's way and the latter's shot goes wide.

Kickoff: After a bit of a delay, they're under way in Botofogo as Uruguay search for their first-ever World Cup qualifying victory on Brazilian soil!

Brazil vs. Uruguay: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kickoff: Over halfway through the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying cycle, results begin to mean a lot more than they did a year ago. Each team plays 18 matches, one against each of the nine opponents at home and one on the road — this will be match 12 for both sides. A huge three points are at stake here!

For the occasion, in-form Brazil star Raphinha has donned the No. 10 worn by so many icons of the nation's past, including Pele, Zico, and Ronaldinho. With Rodrygo absent due to injury, the famous number is his for the time being.

Raphinha will wear Brazil's iconic No. 10 in their World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Uruguay 💫 pic.twitter.com/xQ09POOIgc

— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 13, 2024

30 mins to kickoff: Following Vinicius Jr's missed penalty last time out against Venezuela, Brazil head coach Dorival Jr. publicly yanked the Real Madrid man from penalty duties for the national team. Instead, he announced, Raphina will take spot-kicks moving forward.

Surprisingly, Vinicius has not been a prolific penalty taker in his career thus far. He has only attempted nine career penalties at the professional level not including shootouts, converting seven and missing two. The two he's missed have both come at the national team level, with an effort missed in a 2018 friendly vs. Chile alongside last week's failure.

Raphinha, meanwhile, has 10 successful penalties to one miss across his professional career, including two for Brazil back in October while Vini was out injured, both against Peru. His only miss came way back in 2017 while playing for Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes.

🇧🇷 Dorival quita galones a Vinicius y se los da a Raphinha en Brasil: "Si hay penalti, será el lanzador"https://t.co/T0CIM3YAIu

— Mundo Deportivo (@mundodeportivo) November 19, 2024

45 mins to kickoff: The Brazil lineup is in, and Dorival Jr. has named an unchanged XI from the draw with Venezuela days ago. The surprise there is that Lucas Paqueta is once again pipped in midfield by Gerson, with the Flamengo man able to keep his place.

It's a tough blow for Paqueta who is the subject of transfer rumors in England, as multiple tabloid reports claim he has January transfer interest from Brazilian clubs Botafogo and Flamengo.

1 hour to kickoff: Uruguay confidently announced their starting lineup a full half-hour early. The only relative unknown in the XI being Marcelo Saracchi of Boca Juniors who slots in at left-back for his ninth international cap. It's a vote of confidence from head coach Marcelo Bielsa who leaves the 26-year-old in for a second consecutive start after a strong performance against Colombia.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: To underscore just how dominant Brazil have been across their illustrious football history, here's an eye-popping statistic: Uruguay have collected the second-most points of any opponent on Brazilian soil in their World Cup qualifying history. How many points is that? Three. Three total points in history, which puts them second-most of any South American nation, behind only Argentina with four.

Uruguay have never won a World Cup qualifying match on Brazilian soil, with three draws and three defeats in six total matches.

Uruguay's results in Brazil in World Cup qualifying:

- 1993: 🇧🇷2-0🇺🇾
- 2000: 🇧🇷1-1🇺🇾
- 2003: 🇧🇷3-3🇺🇾
- 2007: 🇧🇷2-1🇺🇾
- 2016: 🇧🇷2-2🇺🇾
- 2021: 🇧🇷4-1🇺🇾

Uruguay's away record vs. Brazil: 0-3-3

Only Argentina (4) have won more points than Uruguay (3) on Brazilian soil in the… pic.twitter.com/AIaXdBcVpE

— Warriors of Uruguay (@UruguayanHeroes) November 19, 2024

1 hour 30 mins to kick: According to a few reports tonight, including Argentine publication Diario Ole, Brazil will adopt the anti-racism protocol recently recommended by FIFA in which a player can transparently signal to the referee that racist abuse is taking place by crossing their arms.

You can read an explainer here about how the protocol is implemented.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: Uruguay have had a roller coaster of a World Cup qualifying cycle. They were beaten by Ecuador on Matchday 2 over a year ago before rattling off six straight unbeaten, including consecutive wins over Brazil and Argentina for the first time in their history.

They then suffered a disappointing loss to Peru last month to put a damper on things, but their insane last-gasp win over Colombia days ago has erased any lingering bad taste in the mouth. What a wild ride to leave them second in the table — and what a disappointment it would be for struggling Brazil to leap them in the standings, which is what would happen should Brazil win tonight.

Darwin Núñez' celebration for Manuel Ugarte's match-winning goal was all of us.

Pure relief and elation. 🤩🇺🇾 pic.twitter.com/CftBlr4fYN

— Warriors of Uruguay (@UruguayanHeroes) November 16, 2024

2 hours to kickoff: Netflix announced today that a documentary on the life and career of Vinicius Jr. will be released sometime in 2025. It will be interesting to see his enormous club success juxtaposed alongside his international struggles. His Brazil career to this point has been a massive disappointment, his missed penalty days ago the latest chapter.

Can today be the day he lifts his national team to an important and emotional victory and turns around his Brazil career in the process? It only takes one!

Vini Jr., a documentary about the life and career of the 24-year-old Brazilian football idol, is coming to Netflix in 2025. pic.twitter.com/qwccKNE7qC

— Netflix (@netflix) November 19, 2024

Brazil vs. Uruguay kickoff time

This World Cup qualifier kicks off from Arena Fonte Nova on Tuesday, November 19 at 9:45 p.m. local time in Bahia, Brazil. Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories around the globe:

CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings

* Ecuador were deducted three points for registration violations regarding Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup cycle.

Brazil vs. Uruguay lineups, team news, starting 11

Brazil are still without first-choice goalkeeper Alisson who is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Man City shot-stopper Ederson will continue in goal in his absence.

Rodrygo, who was forced off early in Brazil’s recent match against Osasuna, will remain unavailable for some time, as will defenders Eder Militao and Bremer who are both out with ACL injuries.

The hosts will also have Lucas Beraldo, Fabricio Bruno, or Alex Telles unavailable for this fixture. Estevao Willian will also miss out due to a lack of match fitness. Vanderson is suspended, while Endrick was surprisingly not called in.

Brazil starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Ederson (GK) — Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Abner — Gerson, Guimaraes — Savinho, Raphinha, Vinicius Jr. — I. Jesus.

Brazil subs (12): Krepski (GK), Weverton (GK), Murillo, L. Ortiz, Dodo, Telles, Paqueta, Andre, A. Pereira, Henrique, Martinelli, Estevao.

For Uruguay, Darwin Nunez will lead the attack while his CONMEBOL suspension remains in limbo thanks to an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Ronald Araujo has accepted his suspension to serve while he remains out with a serious hamstring injury, while Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Nicolas de la Cruz are both absent due to injuries of their own.

Uruguay will need to carefully manage the disciplinary situation of several key players. Manuel Ugarte, Santiago Bueno, Nahitan Nandez, and Jose Maria Gimenez are all one booking away from suspension.

Uruguay starting lineup (4-3-3): Rochet (GK) — Varela, Gimenez, M. Olivera, Saracchi — Valverde, Ugarte, Bentancur — Pellistri, Nunez, M Araujo.

Uruguay subs (11): Mele (GK), Israel (GK), Marichal, J. Rodriguez, J. L. Rodriguez, Fonseca, F. Torres, B. Rodriguez, L. Rodriguez, C. Olivera, Aguirre.