Football World Cup 1966 / Uruguay
This article covers the Uruguayan national team at the 1966 World Cup .
qualification
Uruguay got Peru and Venezuela drawn in qualifying for the finals of the 1966 World Cup .
The Uruguayan clubs lost in the wake of the economic crisis (1959-1967) many talented footballers to foreign clubs, these were also not available for the national team. Therefore, part of the 1962 World Cup team had to be replaced. The players of Uruguay played exclusively with clubs from the capital Montevideo , the majority of them with CA Peñarol and Nacional . Uruguay played their four qualifying games in just three weeks. In the end, the two-time world champion qualified without losing points and thus took part in a World Cup finals for the fifth time.
At the start they played on May 23, 1965 in the Estadio Centenario in front of 17,000 spectators against Venezuela, which was considered to be the football thumb in South America. Even at the two largest clubs in the country, not a single Venezuelan played, but Argentinians, Brazilians, Peruvians and Colombians. The course of the game was accordingly. Until the break, the Urus were leading 2-0 with two goals from Héctor Silva . After the break, Silva scored his third goal before goals from Danilo Meneses and Pedro Rocha made it 5-0.
13,000 spectators attended the second leg in Caracas on May 30th. A goal from Santana gave the hosts a surprising 1-0 lead, but the Venezuelan side weren't strong enough to keep the lead. Before the break, Rocha equalized on the basis of Meneses. After the break, Uruguay changed the line of strikers and became stronger offensively. Before the 60th minute, José Urruzmendi and Rocha made it 3-1 for the guests.
After the two mandatory victories, Peru was followed by a somewhat stronger opponent who had already won both of their games against Venezuela.
In the first leg in Peru, the two-time world champion had to tremble for a long time. In front of 45,000 spectators at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, the host was the leading team. The line-up of goalkeeper Walter Taibo turned out to be a stroke of luck for the Urus . The goalkeeper prevented the deficit with his saves. After the Peruvians hit the post, Urruzmendi scored the only goal of the day in direct return.
The last official match of the qualifying group, on June 13th in Montevideo, attracted 60,000 spectators at the Centenario Stadium. A draw was enough for the Uruguayans after the first leg win. In the event of a Peruvian victory, a playoff would have taken place two days later in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Shortly after the start of the game, the underdog from Peru took the lead. But Hector Silva and Pedro Rocha, the two best Uruguayans, turned the game around. First served Rocha Silva, who equalized in the 20th minute. In the middle of the second half, the two played the Peruvian defense with a direct short passing game. Rocha then completed the attack with an artificial shot to the 2-1 winner.
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Uruguay
|
11: 2 | 8-0 |
| 2 |
 Peru |
8: 6 | 4: 4 |
| 3 |
.svg){kind=small} Venezuela |
4:15 | 0: 8 |
| Uruguay | - | Venezuela | 5: 0 (2: 0) |
| Venezuela | - | Uruguay | 1: 3 (1: 1) |
| Peru | - | Uruguay | 0: 1 (0: 0) |
| Uruguay | - | Peru | 2: 1 (1: 1) |
Uruguayan contingent
Games of the Uruguayan team
Preliminary round
| rank | country | Gates | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 England
|
4-0 | 5: 1 |
| 2 |
Uruguay
|
2: 1 | 4: 2 |
| 3 |
.svg){kind=small} Mexico |
1: 3 | 2: 4 |
| 4th |
 France |
2: 5 | 1: 5 |
| England | - | Uruguay | 0-0 | |
| Uruguay | - | France | 2: 1 (2: 1) | |
| Mexico | - | Uruguay | 0-0 |
The first group match against England's national soccer team took place on July 11th at London's Wembley Stadium . 87,000 spectators watched the game led by the Hungarian István Zsolt against the host and eventual world champion.
On July 15, the second group match took place at London's White City Stadium . A 2-1 victory was achieved against the French national soccer team . After Héctor De Bourgoing (15th minute) led the French with a penalty, Pedro Rocha (26th) and Julio César Cortés (31st) secured the 2-1 final score in the first half. The referee of the match in front of 45,000 spectators was the Czech Karol Galba .
The third group game against Mexico was played on July 19 at Wembley Stadium. 61,000 spectators saw the goalless game led by Swiss referee Bertil Lööw .
With two draws against England and Mexico and the win against France, the Uruguayan national team qualified for the quarter-finals as second in the group.
Quarter finals
| BR Germany | - | Uruguay | 4: 0 (1: 0) |
The quarter-final match against the German national soccer team , who would later become vice world champions, took place on July 23 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield . Helmut Haller (11th minute), Franz Beckenbauer (70th), Uwe Seeler (75th) and once again Haller (83rd) scored the goals, the referee of the game in front of 35,000 spectators was James "Jim" Finney .
With this defeat, the Uruguayan national team was eliminated from the tournament.
| Asia |
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| Europe |
Bulgaria | BR Germany | England | France | Italy | Portugal | Switzerland | Soviet Union | Spain | Hungary |
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| North and Central America | ||
| South America |