There are four nations that have qualified for the knockout round at the last three World Cups.
Uruguay is one of them.
La Celeste have been one of the most consistent international teams over the last decade. They also have a Copa America title and three quarterfinal appearances at the Copa America to boast.
Uruguay's consistency on the global stage makes it a target for all sorts of World Cup props at DraftKings Sportsbook, so let's dig into some of them.
Uruguay To Win World Cup (+4000)
Uruguay To Reach Semifinal (+550)
Uruguay To Reach Quarterfinal (+200)
Uruguay To Win Group H (+185)
Uruguay Team Total Goals Over 5.5 (+100)
Darwin Nunez Golden Boot (+2800)
The first important factor to mention is here is that the World Cup winner has only ever come from Europe or South America.
It makes no sense to risk a bet on any Concacaf, CAF or AFC squad to make a deep run in Qatar, so that leaves me with a long shot bet to make on either a European or South American side.
Uruguay is one of the most trustworthy squads at this level. It advanced to the semifinals in 2010, quarterfinals in 2018 and the round of 16 in 2014.
So let's get the Group H discussion out of the way first. Uruguay is the most talented team in the group that also contains Portugal, South Korea and Ghana.
Portugal has a shell of Cristiano Ronaldo headlining its squad and he may do more harm than help for the European side given his recent actions at Manchester United.
South Korea has not made it out of the group stage in three of its last four World Cups. Ghana's recent form at international competitions is not great. Ghana has not made it past the round of 16 at the last two African Cup of Nations and it was knocked out at the group stage in its last World Cup appearance in Brazil eight years ago.
Uruguay won its group in 2010 and 2018 and outlasted Italy and England in 2014 to finish second behind Costa Rica.
Winning the group is vital for Uruguay because of how the bracket shakes out. Brazil is lurking in Group G as a potential round-of-16 opponent if Uruguay finishes second in Group H.
A Group H victory likely lands Uruguay a matchup with Switzerland or Serbia in the round of 16, which is a far better matchup than taking second and facing Brazil right away.
Uruguay's defense is the reason to have confidence in it as the tournament goes on. La Celeste finished CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying with three clean sheets in its last four games. They held Mexico and Canada scoreless in two friendlies that followed.
Few teams can match the experience that Fernando Muslera holds in net and that Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez and others have in defense.
Uruguay also has some of the best in-form players in the world on its roster. Federico Valverde and Rodrigo Betancur will be crucial when it comes to chance creation in attack and Darwin Nunez started to find his footing up top at Liverpool at the perfect time.
Nunez is possibly the most important piece to this whole puzzle coming together for Uruguay. He scored his third-career international goal in Uruguay's last friendly against Canada and he comes into Qatar with 10 goals at Liverpool, including a brace over the weekend against Southampton.
Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are still incredible, and they will be relied on in certain parts of the tournament, but Nunez may be asked to carry the scoring load as the younger, in-form member of the Uruguay forward group.
If Uruguay makes it into the knockout round, it will likely score at least six goals, which brings its overall team goal total into play as well.
Uruguay scored five goals in group play in 2018, four goals in 2014 and on four occasions in 2010. A four-or-five-goal performance over three group games sets Uruguay up to score at least once in the round of 16 and hit the overall tournament scoring prop.
A quarterfinal berth should be expected if Uruguay wins Group H and then it comes down to outperforming other world-class sides and a bit of luck in the draw.
Belgium, Spain or Germany could await in the quarterfinal round, while France or England could be the semifinal foe if both European sides win their groups.
At that point in the tournament, it is anyone's game, and Uruguay has the quality across the board to beat some of the best European sides. The South American side took down Portugal in the round of 16 four years ago before falling to France.
Even if the grand prize of Uruguay to win the World Cup at +2800 does not hit, there could be some cash out spots, or at least opportunities to cash the round-by-round props.
At minimum, Uruguay is capable of reaching the quarterfinal round and Nunez could put himself in contention for the Golden Boot by that stage. It is worth noting that each of the last three World Cup Golden Boot winners did not win the World Cup itself. A deep run powered by Nunez could be enough to cash that prop as well.