Uruguay Wins 1-0 Over Egypt After Defender Gimenez Heads Home Late Winner

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Uruguay defender Jose Maria Gimenez headed home Carlos Sanchez's long free-kick to hand Uruguay a 1-0 win over Egypt in their first match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on Friday.

Uruguay dominated throughout the match but struggled to convert before Gimenez broke the deadlock with a minute to go, as Egypt's star striker Mohamed Salah watched his side lose the game from the bench.

Uruguay is now second in their Group A behind hosts Russia, who thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match of the tournament on Thursday.

FULL-TIME: Egypt 0-1 Uruguay.

Gimenez's late goal gives Uruguay a dramatic win!#WorldCup⁠⁠ #EGY⁠ ⁠#URU⁠ ⁠ pic.twitter.com/4O5cJJNaPM

— FIFA World Cup (@WorIdCupUpdates) June 15, 2018

​🇺🇾 @Uruguay and @LuisSuarez9 have got off to a winning start at #BarçaWorldCup against Egypt. The Barça striker came close several times, but it was Gimenez who finally broke the deadlock in the 89th minute pic.twitter.com/rRbkbbiwwV

— FC Barcelona 🏆🏆 (@FCBarcelona) June 15, 2018

​The FIFA World Cup Group A game between Uruguay and Egypt was attended by a total of 27,015 spectators. The game was held at the 33,000-seater Yekaterinburg Arena on Friday, with Uruguay edging Egypt 1-0.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on Thursday and will continue through July 15, with a total of 64 matches set to be played at 12 stadiums across 11 Russian cities.