The third and final leg of the group league games of the ongoing FIFA World Cup are getting underway tonight as hosts Russia will take on the mighty Uruguay in Samara.

Both the teams have won their first two games respectively and have already secured a place in the knockout stage but the result of today’s game will decide their final position in the group table and thus, will determine their respective opponents in the second round.

The hosts made a impressive start with a 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the tournament before outclassing Mohamaed Salah’s Egypt in their second game. An in-form Uruguay, on the other hand, thrashed Egypt in their first game and defeated the Saudi team to ensure a place in the second round.

The Latin Americans will miss their defender Jose Maria Gimenez as he has been taken out of the team for World Cup because of a leg injury.

A draw or a defeat for the star-studded Uruguayans against an upbeat Russia may set up a possible clash against either Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal or Spain in the second round. However, striker Edinson Cavani remained unfazed as he said, “We are just thinking about tomorrow's game. After that we will see which path we have to take and against which team we will play. Our main task is to play a good game and to win. That will guarantee to finish first in the group, and then everything will depend on the other matches.”

Meanwhile, Uruguay head coach Oscar Tabarez, denied the possibility of fielding a second-string squad, “I don't see any team having the luxury of resting players, especially, as Cavani said, with the situation we have seen, I don't see how you can be resting players. In our case, it's not going to change. We have prepared to play seven matches in one month if things work out for us."

Stanislav Cherchesov, Russia's coach, told the media, “We are preparing for this game exactly the same way. It is clear that we have qualified and it does mean that those players who are well prepared will play. Our medical team will also advise us on who is prepared but we are not planning any changes for tomorrow’s game.”

On his side’s superb show in the tournament till now, Russia forward Fedor Smolov sounded confident, “I think it is a great honor to be the host country because it is the first time in Russia’s history. I and the whole squad are happy that we had the chance to represent our country. We know that in previous tournaments we had some not good results in friendlies and all that stuff but we are very happy that we are in the playoffs so we are looking forward to go as far as we can.”

Meanwhile, Egypt and Saudi Arabia lost two matches out of two in the World Cup so far and are already out of the contest. Therefore, they will only be playing for honor when they meet on Monday in their last game of the tournament. Egypt lost 1-0 to Uruguay in their first 2018 World Cup match, with Mohamed Salah out due to a shoulder injury. Salah scored Egypt's sole goal in the tournament from a penalty in the Egypt versus Russia match which ended 3-1 for the host team.

 “Yes, for us this is an important match, mostly because we want to end our participation in the World Cup in a good fashion with a good result. I think we are well prepared, we have recovered from our defeat against Russia. I repeat, we play for all the people in Egypt, we want to give them some joy and we want to end this tournament with a triumph,” Egypt coach Hector Cuper remarked.

Goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy was involved in the first two matches, leaving captain Essam El Hadary on the bench. But if the 45-year-old plays against Saudi Arabia, he will set the record as the oldest player in FIFA World Cup history. Ahead of his possible milestone match El Hadary said, “Obviously I will be very happy if I participate in the match tomorrow, but I don't know, this is not for sure and this choice will be made by the coach. Obviously, any player wants to make a record, especially in the World Cup. I think this world record will be my achievement but also an achievement for Egypt. I hope that I will be able to set this record.”

(With agency input)