Uruguay started the World Cup with a clear loss against Cape Verde on Thursday. In the South American derby against Brazil, they kept up well for just over 23 minutes. Then Brazil moved from 12–10 to a 19–10 halftime lead.
In the second half, Brazil slowly increased its lead.
Upsetting Sweden, who have won WC silver and EC gold in recent years, looks like an impossible task for the valiantly fighting Uruguayans.
The top three in each group advance to the intermediate round, where they are pitted against the top three in another group.
The teams from Sweden’s group are combined with the three best from the group in Kristianstad. There, Portugal won 32-24 over South Korea in Saturday’s first game. It was Portugal’s first point in the World Cup. South Korea is still at zero.
Hungary overturned a 12–17 halftime deficit to win 30–28 against Iceland, to top Group D.