Three important points are up for grabs at the Education City Stadium on Thursday when Uruguay and South Korea raise the curtain on their World Cup campaigns.

The teams are in Group H of this year's global event alongside Portugal and Ghana, who will go head-to-head in the other group encounter.

Diego Alonso's men have failed to win six of their last seven opening fixtures at football's biggest competition, and another slow start in Qatar could have serious ramifications for the South Americans.

On the other hand, South Korea claimed an impressive albeit insignificant victory over Germany in their last World Cup outing, which should give Paulo Bento's men reason to believe they can come out on top in this one.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how the squads of Uruguay and South Korea stack up against each other ahead of the contest.

URUGUAY

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Most valuable player:
Federico Valverde (£86.2m)

Overall squad value:
£388m

Most capped player:
Diego Godin (159)

Leading goalscorer:
Luis Suarez (68)

Total caps:
1183

Total goals:
173

Oldest player:
Diego Godin (36)

Youngest player:
Facundo Pellistri (20)

Average age:
27.8

SQUAD IN FULL

Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray), Sergio Rochet (Nacional), Sebastian Sosa (Independiente)

Defenders: Diego Godin (Velez Sarsfield), Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid), Martin Caceres (LA Galaxy), Sebastian Coates (Sporting Lisbon), Matias Vina (Roma), Ronald Araujo (Barcelona), Guillermo Varela (Flamengo), Mathias Olivera (Napoli), Jose Luis Rodriguez (Nacional)

Midfielders: Matias Vecino (Lazio), Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Giorgian de Arrascaeta (Flamengo), Lucas Torreira (Galatasaray), Nicolas de la Cruz (River Plate), Manuel Ugarte (Sporting)

Forwards: Luis Suarez (Nacional), Edinson Cavani (Valencia), Maxi Gomez (Trabzonspor), Darwin Nunez (Liverpool), Facundo Torres (Orlando City), Facundo Pellistri (Manchester United), Agustin Canobbio (Athletico Paranaense)

SOUTH KOREA

© Reuters

Most valuable player:
Heung-min Son (£60.4m)

Overall squad value:
£142.4m

Most capped player:
Heung-min Son (104)

Leading goalscorer:
Heung-min Son (35)

Total caps:
922

Total goals:
113

Oldest player:
Kim Tae-hwan (33)

Youngest player:
Lee Kang-in (21)

Average age:
27.5

SQUAD IN FULL

Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Al-Shabab), Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan Hyundai), Song Bum-keun (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)

Defenders: Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Hong Chul (Daegu FC), Kim Moon-hwan (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan Hyundai), Kwon Kyung-won (Gamba Osaka), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan Hyundai), Cho Yu-min (Daejon Hana Citizen), Kim Min-jae (Napoli), Yoon Jong-gyu (FC Seoul)

Midfielders: Jung Woo-young (Al-Sadd), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz), Hwang In-beom (Olympiacos), Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul), Paik Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Kwon Chang-hoon (Gimcheon Sangmu), Paik Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan), Jeong Woo-yeong (Freiburg), Lee Kang-in (Mallorca), Yang Hyun-jun (Gangwon FC)

Forwards: Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Hwang Ui-jo (Olympiacos), Cho Gue-sung (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolves)

Read more on Uruguay vs South Korea

• Click here to read our full preview for Uruguay vs South Korea
• How Uruguay could line up against South Korea
• How South Korea could line up against Uruguay
• World Cup 2022: Uruguay vs. South Korea head-to-head record
• World Cup 2022: Reasons for Uruguay to be confident of beating South Korea
• World Cup 2022: Reasons for South Korea to be confident of beating Uruguay
• World Cup 2022: Why to expect a low-scoring game between Uruguay and South Korea

Written by
Adepoju Marvellous