Guinea vs Uganda Prediction: Home turf will be a huge advantage for Guinea

Friday's match at the Stade Municipal de Berkane will mark the beginning of qualification for the 2026 World Cup for both Guinea and Uganda. Both of these countries have been placed in Group G, along with Somalia, Botswana, and Mozambique, who finished as runners-up in the 2015 COSAFA Cup, and Algeria, which has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice. 

The final match of Guinea's schedule of friendlies for the year took place on October 17 at the Estadio Algarve, when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Gabon. This result was quite disappointing. The Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy scored once more to give the Syli National a lead in the 36th minute, but Aaron-Salem Boupendza scored from the penalty spot two minutes after the hour mark to restore parity. With one victory and two draws in their most recent three matches, including a 2-2 tie against Malawi in their final Africa Cup of Nations qualification game on September 9, Guinea are now unbeaten in their previous three matches. Despite the fact that they played to a draw against the Flames, Kaba Diawara's team finished in second place in Group D, collecting 10 points over the course of their six matches. This result guaranteed them a spot in the AFCON for the third year in a row after they were left out in 2017. Guinea will be hoping that they can get off to a winning start in the World Cup qualifiers on Thursday when they take on an opponent that they have not lost to in five of their past seven meetings. Since November 2014, Guinea has a record of three wins, two draws, and no losses against this opponent.

On October 17, Uganda was defeated by Zambia in a friendly match for the second time in a row, this time by a score of 3-0. The Cranes failed to find their footing as Zambia cruised to an easy victory thanks to a brace from Leicester City player Patson Daka and Fashion Sakala's goal in the 63rd minute. Four days earlier, the Cranes had been defeated by Mali by a score of 1-0. After defeating Niger 2-0 at the Stade de Marrakech on September 7, Uganda finished their qualifying campaign for the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and were able to move on to their two next friendly matches. Despite this, Paul Put's squad was only able to win one of their first five matches, which led to them finishing third in Group F with seven points and missing out on qualifying for the continental competition for the first time since 2019 as a result. Uganda is coming into Thursday's opening encounter in their group having lost four of their previous five matches across all competitions. Since the beginning of March, Uganda has given up seven goals and has only managed to keep one clean sheet. They have gone unbeaten in each of their five competitive away matches since August 2022, collecting four wins and one draw, and they will be backing themselves to extend this good run as they attempt to begin their chase for a first World Cup berth on the correct route.

The players under Put's direction have struggled recently, losing four of their most recent five matches across all competitions. Uganda, on the other hand, has won three of their most recent five matches. We predict that the Syli National, who have picked a good roster for the qualifications, will dominate the Cranes in front of their home fans and advance to the next round. However, with both sides expected to do well in front of goal, a bet on both teams scoring and over are other viable options to consider here.