MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Gardens felt like Montevideo on Monday as a sea of Uruguayan soccer fans, many with giant blue and white striped flags draped over their shoulders, nearly packed Hard Rock Stadium and had to settle for a 1-1 tie against Saudi Arabia in their World Cup opening match.

The crowd of 62,764 was awash in light blue as fans chanted “U-ru-guay! U-ru-guay!” while a spirited section of Saudi fans in the south stands waved green flags and cheered.

Although the Saudis were heavily outnumbered, it was they who celebrated the first goal when Abdulleh Al-Amri scored in the 41st minute to give Saudi Arabia a 1-0 lead it held through halftime. He right footed a shot from close range following a corner kick, quieting the Uruguayan fans. Al-Amri then knelt and kissed the ground while his teammates surrounded him.

From that point forward until late in the game, it looked as if the Saudis would play South American spoiler again following their shocking upset of eventual champion Argentina in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

But Maxi Araujo, who plays for Sporting in Portugal, scored the equalizer at the 80-minute mark to ignite the Uruguayan fans. He scored with his left foot from the left side of the six-yard box and was immediately swarmed by his relieved teammates.

Uruguay dominated possession 65% to 35% and had eight shots on goal, compared to three for the Saudis, but Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais had a huge night with seven saves.

“The game changed in the second half, we were able to move the ball and score a goal, but we needed two and only got one,” said Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa. “During the first half, the squad did not find its tempo, and the opponent took it to us and were able to score. When a team that’s supposed to make a difference doesn’t dominate the ball, the weaker team dares to do something.”

After all the angst about traffic, high ticket prices, long security lines and extreme heat, stadium operations ran relatively smoothly. Fans of both teams showed up in a good mood and the weather, which looked threatening before kickoff, held up.

Fans who chose to take shuttle buses, as tournament organizers urged fans to do, generally seemed to have an easy commute. Fans who bought parking passes got stuck in heavy traffic as the streets around the stadium were bumper-to-bumper by mid-afternoon.

Once the opening whistle blew, all the focus turned to the field. The match became even more important after Spain, the heavy favorite to win Group H and a contender to win tournament, tied Cape Verde 0-0 in the earlier match, leaving the group lead up for grabs.

Uruguay is a two-time World Cup champion, one of South America’s heavyweights and ranked No. 16 in the latest FIFA rankings. Saudi Arabia is ranked No. 60, in its seventh World Cup but advanced out of the group stage just once, to the Round of 16 at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

But anybody who watched the 2022 World Cup knew not to take the Saudis lightly, as they famously shocked eventual champion Argentina in the opening match, one of the greatest upsets in tournament history.

Salem Al-Dawsari, who is still on the team, scored the historic game-winning goal for Saudi Arabia in that 2-1 victory.

Going into the game, Uruguayan fans were feeling confident that their team would become the first South American team to win a game in this World Cup after Paraguay lost to the United States, Brazil tied Morocco, and Ecuador lost to the Ivory Coast. Alas, their team also wound up with a draw, leaving all four teams in the group tied with one point each.

“I feel like we lost two points rather than earned one point,” Bielsa said. “Even though the image of our team changed in the second half, we did not do the same in the first half. I don’t analyze other teams, only ours. The fact that the other game ended in a tie has no bearing on our game. We should have won that game, but did not.”

Diego Cabrera, who traveled from Chicago with his three children, said before the game: “We are going to win this game and be in first place and move on to the second round. We know Uruguay will be there in the quarterfinals and why can’t they take the Cup, too?”

The Uruguay team dealt with a travel hiccup ahead of Monday’s match.

The team’s charter flight from Mexico to Miami Sunday night was delayed a few hours due to missing documentation. Uruguay’s team was scheduled to travel Sunday afternoon from their base camp in Playa del Carmen.

“Due to problems beyond the control of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed. The squad is resting at the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4.15 p.m.,” the Uruguayan Federation said in a statement on Sunday.

FIFA later explained the delay: “Due to an airline permitting error in Mexico, the Uruguay national team’s departure from Cancun to Miami was delayed.

“The airline has apologized for the inconvenience caused. FIFA remained in close contact with the Uruguay national team throughout their delay and worked alongside airport and operational partners to help expedite the process and minimize disruption to the team’s travel arrangements.”

The team landed after 7 p.m. and its press conference at the stadium featuring coach Marcelo Bielsa and captain José María Giménez was delayed from 6:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Giménez and Bielsa both shrugged off the flight delay.

“The travel, we had some complications, it ⁠was difficult, but we were able to rest in the hotel and get here ⁠later,” the player said.

Bielsa said it will “cause no problem” for the team.

It was the first World Cup for Uruguay in two decades without legendary forward Luis Suarez, the 39-year-old Inter Miami forward. He attended the match with his family, wearing his No. 9 Uruguay jersey.

Win or lose, Cabrera said he and his family were having a great time. They took the shuttle bus from Hard Rock Hotel to the stadium and he said it was a good experience.

“The bus picked us up on time, brought us right here to the stadium gate, we are actually surprised at how organized, easy and practical the whole experience was,” said Cabrera who brought his three children, Diego Jr., Jennifer and Kevin to the match. “No problem at all.”

Alan Marsall of Bermuda and George Ligeti of Boca Raton, college friends from their days at Princeton University, also took the bus from Hard Rock hotel and didn’t have any difficulties.

Their sons, Jesse Marshall and Alex Ligeti, are big soccer fans, so they decided to make a father-son trip out of the World Cup match on Monday.

“We’re overnighting at the Hard Rock hotel, and it’s been a wonderful experience so far, amazing,” Marshall said. “Our sons were footballers, now grown young men, so we thought, `Let’s do this father-son World Cup trip.’ We’re really excited to see the match, and so far everything is very organized.”

Note: Referee Maurizio and the rest of the officiating crew wore “flamingo pink” shirts to celebrate Miami. All of the 170 World Cup officials (except VAR assistants) are based in Miami for the duration of the tournament.

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