Uruguayan national soccer team / world championships

Republic of East Uruguay
República Oriental del Uruguay

World Cup record goalscorer:	Óscar Míguez (8)
World Cup record players:	Fernando Muslera (16)
Rank :	9
Organizer:	1930
Balance sheet
56 World Cup games 24 wins 12 draws 20 defeats 87:74 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Uruguay 1-0 Peru Montevideo ( URY ); July 18, 1930
Biggest World Cup win Uruguay 8: 0 Bolivia Belo Horizonte ( BRA ); 2nd July 1950
Biggest World Cup defeat Uruguay 1: 6 Denmark Nezahualcóyotl ( MEX ); June 8, 1986
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	12 ( first : 1930 )
Best results	World Champion (1930, 1950)
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 6, 2018 )

This article contains a detailed description of the Uruguayan national soccer team at World Cups . Uruguay hosted the first World Cup tournament and became the first world champion and is also the only world champion to this day who did not become this in a final, as the World Cup title was won in a final round of the best four teams in 1950. In addition to their two title wins, the Uruguayans were the best South American team in 1954, 2010 and 2018 when they were the only South American team to reach the semi-finals (1954 and 2010) and were placed by FIFA as the best South American team (2018).

Balance sheet

With two titles and fourth place three times, Uruguay is among the ten best national teams at soccer world championships. Of the eight teams that have become world champions so far, Uruguay has most often failed to qualify (6 ×).

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	final	Argentina	World Champion	Alberto Suppici
1934	Italy	not participated
1938	France	not participated
1950	Brazil	Final round	Brazil , Sweden , Spain	World Champion	Juan Lopez	Maracanaço
1954	Switzerland	3rd place match	Austria	4th Place	Juan Lopez	First World Cup defeat
1958	Sweden	not qualified				In the qualifying failed to Paraguay.
1962	Chile	Preliminary round	Soviet Union , Yugoslavia , Colombia	12.	Enrique Fernández	The last all-South American encounter (Uruguay-Colombia) in a World Cup preliminary group.
1966	England	Quarter finals	Germany	07th	Ondino Viera
1970	Mexico	3rd place match	Germany	4th Place	Juan Hohberg	Semi-final defeat against eventual world champions Brazil
1974	Germany	Preliminary round	Netherlands , Bulgaria , Sweden	13.	Roberto Porta	First World Cup defeat against a former world champion
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualifying failed to Bolivia. Bolivia later failed in the intercontinental play-off against the World Cup finalists Hungary.
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualifying failed to Peru.
1986	Mexico	Round of 16	Argentina	16.	Omar Borrás	Earliest red card in a World Cup game
1990	Italy	Round of 16	Italy	16.	Óscar Tabarez
1994	United States	not qualified				In the qualifying failed to Brazil and Bolivia.
1998	France	not qualified				Failed as seventh in the table in the South America qualification .
2002	South Korea / Japan	Preliminary round	Denmark , France , Senegal	26th	Víctor Púa	Only World Cup game against a defending champion
2006	Germany	not qualified				In the intercontinental play-off to the World Cup finals participation in Australia failed.
2010	South Africa	3rd place match	Germany	4th Place	Óscar Tabarez	Diego Forlán named best player
2014	Brazil	Round of 16	Colombia	12.	Óscar Tabarez	First preliminary round with three ex-world champions (England, Italy and Uruguay)
2018	Russia	Quarter finals	France	5.	Óscar Tabarez	In the qualification qualified as group runners.

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Waiver of participation: twice (10%; 1934 as a qualified defending champion and 1938)
• Unqualified: six times (29%; 1958, 1978, 1982, 1994, 1998 and 2006)
• Sporting qualifications (including as defending champion): 12 × (57% or 60% of attempts)
• Participation without qualification: twice (10%; 1930, 1950)
  • Preliminary round: three times (14%; 1962, 1974 and 2002)
  • Round of 16: three times (14%; 1986, 1990 and 2014)
  • Quarter-finals: twice (10%; 1966)
  • Match for third place: three times (14%; 1954, 1970, 2010)
    • 4th place: three times (14%; 1954, 1970, 2010)
  • Final round of the top four: once (5%; 1950)
  • Final: once (1%; 1930)
    • World Champion: twice (10%; 1930, 1950)

Most frequent last opponent: Germany - three times (1966, 1970 and 2014, always lost)

The 1930 World Cup

The first world champions

Final lineups in 1930

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 1930 World Cup

After the two Olympic victories in 1924 and 1928 , Uruguay also won the first official World Cup in their own country in 1930 with a 4-2 victory over neighboring Argentina . Andrade , star of the team at the Olympic Games in 1924 and 1928, did not score a goal, but directed the team. After winning the final, he ended his international career. In addition to Andrade, six other players who had won the Olympic gold medal two years earlier were used in the final: Héctor Castro , José Pedro Cea , Lorenzo Fernández , Álvaro Gestido , José Nasazzi and Héctor Scarone . In the group games, for which Uruguay started only five days after the first World Cup game, because the Estadio Centenario was only completed late, Peru was defeated 1-0 with the first World Cup goal for Uruguay by Héctor Castro. In the second game against Romania it was 4-0 and in the semifinals that followed immediately a 6-1 against Yugoslavia 6-1, in which José Pedro Cea scored three goals.

Many European teams had canceled participation in the tournament in Uruguay because they did not want or could not make the long journey to South America , although Uruguay had even offered financial support for travel and accommodation for the teams traveling from Europe. Since the Uruguayan national soccer team had made the long journey to Europe for the Olympic Games in 1924 and 1928, they felt the rejection of the Europeans as an insult and did not take part in the subsequent World Cups in Europe.

The World Cup in 1934 and 1938

In protest, Uruguay did not take part in the World Championships in Italy and France in 1934 and 1938 - although automatically qualifying as defending champions in 1934 and although France was one of the few Europeans who participated in 1930.

The 1950 World Cup

The Uruguayan world champions of 1950

Constellations in the Maracanaço 1950

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 1950 World Cup

Since Peru and Ecuador withdrew before the start of the qualification, Uruguay could take part in the first World Cup in the neighboring country without qualifying matches and since Scotland and Turkey did not participate, Uruguay only had to play against Bolivia in the preliminary round . The 8-0 is Uruguay's biggest World Cup victory. The winners of the four preliminary round groups of the 1950 World Cup - Brazil , Spain , Sweden and Uruguay - played the title in a final round in an everyone-against-everyone mode. Brazil, the big favorites, won the first two games and already looked like the new world champion, as a draw would have been enough for the title in the last game against the hitherto unconvincing Uruguay.

In front of almost 200,000 fanatical Cariocas in the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil initially took the lead 1-0. Uruguay equalized in the middle of the second half. There was paralyzing horror in the stadium. The spectators fell silent, the Brazilian players froze. With ten minutes to go, Uruguay scored the decisive goal for victory.

Uruguay: Máspoli ; M. Gonzales, E. Tejera; Gambetta, Varela, VR Andrade; Ghiggia , Perez, Míguez , Schiaffino , Moran.

Brazil: Barbosa ; Augusto , Juvenal ; Bauer , Danilo , Bigode ; Friaça , Zizinho , Ademir , Jair , Chico .

Referee: Reader (England).

Goal sequence: 0: 1 Friaça (47th); 1: 1 Schiaffino (65th); 2: 1 Ghiggia (79th).

The 1954 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 1954 World Cup

Uruguay played at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland for the first time as the defending champion in a World Cup tournament in Europe and was automatically qualified and seeded. It played in Group 3 with Austria , Czechoslovakia and Scotland , but did not have to play against the Austrians who were also seeded due to the unique mode . Uruguay became group winners without losing points and without conceding a goal. In the quarter-finals, the world champions defeated England 4: 2 and met the high title favorites Hungary in the semi-finals . Hungary had been undefeated for six years, while Uruguay had never lost a World Cup game before. The Hungarians quickly led 2-0, but Juan Hohberg equalized in the 75th and 86th minutes. Extra time finally brought the Hungarians 4-2 victory and Uruguay were beaten for the first time. In the game for third place, Uruguay had to play against Austria and lost 3-1. As in 1950, the stars of this World Cup were Maspoli and Schiaffino. Then there was the later middle runner of Real Madrid José Santamaría .

The 1958 World Cup

For the first time Uruguay competed in World Cup qualifiers and had to play against Colombia and Paraguay . Since Paraguay had won the first three games, including a 5-0 win against Uruguay and Uruguay in Colombia only played 1-1, Paraguay had already qualified before the last game in Uruguay. Uruguay was then of no use after the final 2-0 win against Paraguay.

The 1962 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national soccer team at the 1962 World Cup

For the World Cup in Chile , Uruguay was in two games against (1: 1: 1 and 2) Bolivia qualified . And after Uruguay failed to qualify for the 1958 World Cup , the 1962 World Cup in Chile should bring back old successes, especially since the World Cup took place for the third time in South America, where Uruguay had always won before. The team was drawn into Group 1, where they met the Soviet Union , Yugoslavia and Colombia . In the first game, Colombia was defeated 2-1. After a 3-1 defeat against Yugoslavia and a 2-1 defeat against the Soviet Union, Uruguay was eliminated in the preliminary round and Enrique Fernández's term of office ended.

The 1966 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national soccer team at the 1966 World Cup

Uruguay had sovereignly qualified for the World Cup in the "motherland of football" with four victories against Peru and Venezuela . At the 1966 World Cup in England , Uruguay was given the honor of playing the opening game against hosts England at London's Wembley Stadium . It was the first in a series of goalless opening games, but it was a huge success for Uruguay. After a 2-1 win over France and another 0-0 win against Mexico , Uruguay qualified as group runner-up for the quarter-finals. Here the team met Germany . The German team took the lead early on thanks to Helmut Haller . Uruguay was faced with a much stronger German team and only knew how to defend themselves by playing too hard. In the second half their team captain Horacio Troche and Héctor Silva were sent off after violent assaults . Then Germany won 4-0 with goals from Franz Beckenbauer , Uwe Seeler and again Helmut Haller. Since then, Uruguay has been remembered badly by the German fans due to the ugly appearance at this game. The radio report by Herbert Zimmermann coined the term Die Urus for the Uruguayans in Germany .

The 1970 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 1970 World Cup

For the first World Cup in Central America, Uruguay qualified as South American champions in 1967 with three wins and one draw against Chile and Ecuador . At the 1970 World Cup in Mexico , Uruguay first played in group 2 against the great outsider Israel , who only qualified for this World Cup, and won 2-0. Against the current European champions Italy, the team fought 0-0 and after the 0-1 defeat against Sweden could only prevail through the better overall goal difference against Sweden. In the quarter-finals, the team won 1-0 after extra time against the Soviet Union and was back in a semi-finals for the first time since 1954. In the semi-final against Brazil , Uruguay first took the lead through Luis Cubilla . Shortly before the break, however, Clodoaldo was able to equalize. In the second half Uruguay had no chance and lost 3-1. In the game for third place Uruguay then played against Germany and lost 1-0 with a goal from Wolfgang Overath . It was Uruguay's final finish in the top four for 40 years.

The 1974 World Cup

Scene from the game against Bulgaria

Ladislao Mazurkiewicz , Uruguayan record World Cup player, coach Roberto Porta and Fernando Morena (from left to right) in the training center in Duisburg

See also : the Uruguayan national soccer team at the 1974 World Cup

For the first World Cup in Germany to Uruguay was in a group with Colombia (4: 0) and Ecuador at the last game against Ecuador qualify after three days earlier by a 0: 1 home defeat was missed against Colombia early qualification. At the 1974 World Cup in Germany , the team was shown their limits in the first group 3 match in Hanover . The Netherlands around Johan Cruyff designed the game from the start and won 2-0. In the second game against Bulgaria , the team did not get beyond a 1: 1 and were eliminated after the 0: 3 defeat against Sweden . With the game Ladislao Mazurkiewicz ended his career. He had guarded the Uruguayan goal 13 times in three finals and has been Uruguay's record player since then.

The 1978 World Cup

Uruguay failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup against Bolivia and thus missed the World Cup in neighboring Argentina . Bolivia was later defeated in the intercontinental playoff CONMEBOL / UEFA against final tournament participants Hungary .

The 1982 World Cup

In qualifying for the 1982 World Cup , Uruguay failed at the finals, Peru , losing the home game 1: 2 and only won one game against Colombia.

The 1986 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 1986 World Cup

The Uruguayan fans had to wait twelve years for their country to participate in another World Cup. Uruguay qualified for the second World Cup in Mexico with three wins and one draw against Chile and Ecuador. At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Uruguay played in their first game against Germany . In the fourth minute, Uruguay took a 1-0 lead after a gross mistake by Lothar Matthäus through Antonio Alzamendi . The German team followed this deficit the entire game and was very happy to equalize in the 84th minute through Klaus Allofs . In the second game, the team fell 6-1 against World Cup newcomers Denmark. After a 0-0 win against Scotland, in which José Batista was sent off after 56 seconds, Uruguay came into the round of 16 as one of the best third party without a win, where they defeated eventual world champions Argentina 0-1 eliminated.

The 1990 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 1990 World Cup

For the second World Cup in Italy , Uruguay was only by goal difference ahead of Bolivia (both 6: 2 points) qualified by Peru on the final day with 2: 0 was defeated.

The draw at the World Cup in Italy in 1990 brought as opponents for Uruguay: Spain , Belgium and South Korea . After a 0-0 win against Spain, a 3-1 defeat against Belgium and a 1-0 win over the South Koreans, Uruguay once again reached the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams. This time they lost 2-0 to hosts Italy .

The 1994 World Cup

In qualifying for the 1994 World Cup , Uruguay finished third in Group B behind Brazil and Bolivia, and was only able to leave Ecuador and Venezuela behind.

The 1998 World Cup

With the exception of world champions Brazil, all other CONMEBOL members played out four finalists in a group of nine. Uruguay only ended up in 7th place and missed qualifying for the 1998 World Cup .

The 2002 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 2002 World Cup

Again Uruguay had to wait twelve years for another World Cup participation and travel halfway around the world: After Uruguay had only finished 5th in the South American qualifiers , two playoff games against Australia were necessary. After a 0-1 win in Melbourne , the second leg in Montevideo was won 3-0. At the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea , the 0-0 win against defending champions France after the 1-2 defeat in their first game against Denmark was a respectable success. The hard-won 3: 3 against World Cup newcomers Senegal was not enough to qualify for the next round.

The 2006 World Cup

In the qualification for the 2006 World Cup , Uruguay only finished fifth in the South America qualification, for which all CONMEBOL members competed against each other and had to play again in the intercontinental playoff against Oceania winners Australia. This time, however, after both winning their home games 1-0, Australia managed to qualify perfectly on penalties and reach the finals for the second time after 1974 (also in Germany).

The 2010 World Cup

Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez with enema children

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 2010 World Cup

After Uruguay did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, they were able to prevail in the qualification for the World Cup in South Africa against the CONCACAF representative Costa Rica and drove to a final round for the eleventh time. Before that, Uruguay had only finished fifth in the South American qualifiers, just like four years earlier. In South Africa, after a 0-0 win against France , a 3-0 win against hosts South Africa and a 1-0 win against Mexico, they were group winners in the round of 16 against South Korea .

In the round of 16, the Uruguayan team qualified with a 2-1 win over South Korea as the first team for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, the team beat Ghana on penalties and qualified for the semi-finals for the first time in 40 years. Here defended Luis Suarez in the last minute of extra time a shot of Ghanaians on the goal line by handball and received the red card . As Asamoah Gyan could not convert the due penalty, it went to penalties, in which Uruguay prevailed. In the semifinals they played against the Dutch on July 6, 2010 for their first entry into a World Cup final since 1930 and thus for 80 years, but had to do without their suspended striker Luis Suárez.

In the semifinals Uruguay lost to the Netherlands 2: 3 and lost in the game for third place against Germany with the same result, so that the team finished the tournament in fourth place. Uruguay finished fourth for the third time, more often than any other team. The attacker Diego Forlán was honored as the best player of the tournament with the Golden Ball .

The 2014 World Cup

The team before the game against England

Uruguayan fans at the 2014 World Cup

See also : the Uruguayan national football team at the 2014 World Cup

In qualifying for the 2014 World Cup , Uruguay, fifth in the South America group, had to go through the intercontinental relegation . The Celeste prevailed against Jordan . The first leg against the Asian representative was clearly won 5-0, the highest away win in an intercontinental playoff game. In the second leg in front of a home crowd, a 0-0 draw was enough to reach the World Cup finals.

In the group stage, Uruguay met Costa Rica for the first time at a World Cup, as well as England and Italy, which they played in the group stage in 1966 and 1970 respectively. Both European teams were defeated and Uruguay reached the round of 16 in second place. There the team lost 2-0 to Colombia and was eliminated from the tournament.

The 2018 World Cup

In the qualification all 10 CONMEBOL members joined from October 2015 again in home and away matches against each other. The best four teams qualified directly, the fifth must play against a member of another confederation in playoff games. Uruguay started with an away win in Bolivia and a home win against Colombia, but then lost in Ecuador, which was the only team to win their first four games. With a 3-0 home win in the last game of 2015 against South American champions Chile, the second place could be achieved. In 2016 there were four wins and two draws and two defeats. In 2017 there were two wins, two draws and two defeats. Since most of the teams, apart from the Brazilians who qualified early, took points from each other, the fight for the World Cup places remained open until the last match day. In the last game against Bolivia, which had no chance to qualify, they fell behind with an own goal by Gastón Silva in the 23rd minute. Martin Caceres equalized in the 39th minute, Edinson Cavani put the Uruguayans in the lead in the 41st and record goalscorer Luis Suárez scored two more goals in the 60th and 75th minutes. Kaiptän Diego Godín then made it 4-2 with another own goal. This meant that Uruguay qualified for the World Cup in second place in the group. With a total of 21 goals in World Cup qualifiers, Luis Suárez is now together with Lionel Messi the best South American World Cup qualifying scorer . They replaced the Argentine Hernán Crespo as the best South American in this qualification , who had scored a total of 18 goals in the qualifications of the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups

In Russia, Uruguay started with two 1-0 wins against Egypt and Saudi Arabia and was thus qualified for the round of 16 before the last group game. The Uruguayans won the group victory against host Russia 3-0 and met European champions Portugal in the round of 16 . With two goals from Edinson Cavani they prevailed 2-1. However, Cavani was injured and could not be used in the quarter-finals against France. Uruguay then lost 2-0 to the eventual world champions.

Ranking of the Uruguayan World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Fernando Muslera - 16 in 3 tournaments

02. Edinson Cavani and Diego Godín - 14 out of 3 tournaments

04. Ladislao Mazurkiewicz † and Luis Suárez - 13 in 3 tournaments

06. Martín Cáceres , Egidio Arévalo Ríos and Julio Cortés - 11 out of 2 (Ríos) and 3 tournaments respectively

09. Diego Forlán , Maximiliano Pereira , Pedro Rocha † and Luis Ubiña † - 10 in 2 (Pereira, Ubina), 3 (Forlán) and 4 tournaments respectively

13. Víctor Rodríguez Andrade †, Luis Cubilla †, Víctor Espárrago , Cristian Rodríguez and Juan Schiaffino † - 9 in 2 and 3 (Cubilla) tournaments respectively

Ranking of the Uruguayan World Cup players with the most goals

1. Óscar Míguez † - 8 goals

2. Luis Suárez - 7 goals

3. Diego Forlán - 6 goals

4. Edinson Cavani , Pedro Cea † and Juan Schiaffino † - 5 goals each

7. Carlos Borges † and Alcides Ghiggia † - 4 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1930: José Nasazzi
• 1950: Obdulio Jacinto Varela
• 1954: Obdulio Jacinto Varela (group matches and quarter-finals), William Martínez (semi-finals and third-place match)
• 1962, 1966: Horacio Troche (until he was sent off in the quarter-finals in 1966)
• 1970: Pedro Rocha (1st game to 12th minute), Luis Ubiña (from 2nd game)
• 1974: Juan Carlos Masnik (1st game), Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (2nd and 3rd game)
• 1986: Jorge Barrios (1st and 3rd game, round of 16), Eduardo Acevedo (2nd game)
• 1990: Enzo Francescoli
• 2002: Paolo Montero
• 2010: Diego Lugano , Diego Forlán (semi-finals)
• 2014: Diego Lugano (1st game) Diego Godín (from 2nd game)
• 2018: Diego Godín

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Uruguay first used a legionnaire in 1970 , then more and more and at the last World Cup with Sebastián Coates only one player who played in Uruguay.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1930	0
1950 and 1954	0
1962 and 1966	0
1970 (6)	1 (Argentina)	Oscar Zubia (2)
1974 (3)	7 (2 in Argentina, 3 in Brazil, 2 in Spain)	Baudilio Jáuregui (3), Ricardo Pavoni (3); Pablo Forlán (3), Ladislao Mazurkiewicz (3), Pedro Rocha (3); Julio Montero Castillo (1), Víctor Espárrago (3)
1986 (4)	14 (4 in Argentina, 4 in Brazil, 1 in France, 1 in Greece, 1 in Colombia, 3 in Spain)	Antonio Alzamendi (3), José Batista (3), Enzo Francescoli (4), Nelson Gutiérrez (4); Víctor Diogo (3), Rubén Paz (1), Darío Pereyra (2), Rodolfo Rodríguez (0); Venancio Ramos (4); Jorge Barrios (3); Sergio Santin (4); Wilmar Cabrera (2), Jorge da Silva (3), Mario Saralegui (3)
1990 (4)	12 (2 in Argentina, 1 in France, 5 in Italy, 4 in Spain)	Hugo de León (4), Eduardo Pereira (0); Enzo Francescoli (4); Carlos Aguilera (4), Nelson Gutiérrez (4), Rubén Paz (3), José Perdomo (4), Rubén Sosa (4); Antonio Alzamendi (3), Pablo Bengoechea (1), José Óscar Herrera (3), Javier Zeoli (0)
2002 (3)	15 (1 in England, 8 in Italy, 1 in Mexico, 5 in Spain)	Diego Forlan (1); Fabián Carini (3), Pablo García (3), Gianni Guigou (2), Federico Magallanes (2), Paolo Montero (3), Fabián O'Neill (0), Álvaro Recoba (3), Gonzalo Sorondo (3); Sebastián Abreu (3); Nicolás Olivera (0), Mario Regueiro (2), Marcelo Romero (2), Gonzalo de los Santos (1), Darío Silva (3)
2010 (7)	21 (1 in Argentina, 1 in Brazil, 3 in Chile, 1 in France, 4 in Italy, 1 in Colombia, 2 in the Netherlands, 3 in Portugal, 1 in Sweden, 3 in Spain, 1 in Turkey)	Sebastián Fernández (2); Sebastián Abreu (4); Álvaro Fernández (4), Andrés Scotti (2), Mauricio Victorino (5); Diego Perez (7); Martín Cáceres (2), Edinson Cavani (6), Walter Gargano (3), Fernando Muslera (7); Juan Guillermo Castillo (0); Nicolás Lodeiro (3), Luis Suárez (6); Jorge Fucile (5), Álvaro Pereira (6), Maxi Pereira (6); Sebastián Eguren (1); Diego Forlán (7), Diego Godín (5), Ignacio González (1); Diego Lugano (6)
2014 (4)	22 (3 in Brazil, 3 in England, 1 in France, 5 in Italy, 1 in Japan, 1 in Mexico, 1 in Paraguay, 2 in Portugal, 4 in Spain, 1 in Turkey)	Nicolás Lodeiro (3), Álvaro Pereira (3), Martín Silva (0); Diego Lugano (1), Gastón Ramírez (2), Luis Suárez (2); Edinson Cavani (4); Martín Cáceres (4), Abel Hernández (2), Diego Perez (0), Walter Gargano (1), Álvaro González (4); Diego Forlan (2); Egidio Arévalo Ríos (4); Rodrigo Muñoz (0); Jorge Fucile (1), Maxi Pereira (3); José María Giménez (3), Diego Godín (4), Cristian Rodríguez (4), Christian Stuani (4); Fernando Muslera (4)
2018 (5)	21 (3 in Argentina, 2 in Brazil, 1 in France, 5 in Italy, 2 in Mexico, 2 in Portugal, 5 in Spain, 1 in Turkey)	Martín Campaña , Nahitan Nández (5), Gastón Silva ; Giorgian De Arrascaeta (2), Martín Silva ; Edinson Cavani (4); Rodrigo Bentancur (5), Martín Cáceres (5), Diego Laxalt (4), Lucas Torreira (5), Matias Vecino (5); Carlos Sánchez (3), Jonathan Urretaviscaya ; Sebastián Coates (1), Maxi Pereira ; José María Giménez (4), Diego Godín (5), Maximiliano Gómez (2), Luis Suárez (5), Christian Stuani (2); Fernando Muslera (5)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1962: In the second group game against Yugoslavia, Ángel Rubén Cabrera was sent off as the first Uruguayan after a fight with Vladica Popović . Both were used again in their last group matches.

• 1966: Horacio Troche was dismissed in the quarterfinals against Germany for assault and Héctor Silva for foul play. The 0: 4 prevented further effects in the tournament.

• 1974: Julio Montero Castillo was the first Uruguayan to receive a red card in the first group game against the Dutch and was suspended for the next game.

• 1986: Miguel Bossio received the red card in the second group game against Denmark and was suspended for the next game. José Batista received the red card 56 seconds after kick-off of the last group match against Scotland and was suspended for the round of 16 against Argentina, as was Víctor Diogo , who received the second yellow card. The second yellow card for Jorge da Silva in the round of 16, however, had no further effect due to the defeat against Argentina.

• 1990: José Perdomo received the second yellow card in the round of 16 against Italy . Since Uruguay lost the game and was eliminated, these had no effect

• 2002: Pablo García and Marcelo Romero received the second yellow card in their last group match against Senegal. Since Uruguay was eliminated, these had no effect.

• 2010: In the opening game against Vice World Champion France Nicolás Lodeiro received the first yellow card two minutes after his substitution and 16 minutes later the second yellow card and thus the yellow-red card , which meant he was suspended for the next game. In the quarter-finals, Luis Suárez received the red card for deliberate handball in the last minute of extra time against Ghana and was suspended for the semi-finals. In addition, Jorge Fucile received the second yellow card, which also meant that he could not be used in the semi-finals.

• 2014: In the first group game, Maxi Pereira received the red card in the 5th minute of stoppage time and was suspended for the next group game against England. In the round of 16, Uruguay had to play without Luis Suárez , who was banned by FIFA for 9 games in the game against Italy because of his bite attack against Giorgio Chiellini .

• 2018: Rodrigo Bentancur received the second yellow card in the round of 16, but this has no effect since Uruguay was eliminated.

Games

Uruguay has played 56 World Cup games so far, of which 24 have been won, 12 have ended in a draw and 20 have been lost. Three draw games had to be extended, of which one was won and one lost, and one was won on penalties. Uruguay played four times at world championships against eventual world champions in 1996 / England, 1970 / Brazil, 1986 / Argentina and 2018 / France. Uruguay had four home games and played five times against the hosts: 1950 / Brazil / final round, 1966 / England / preliminary round, 1990 / Italy / round of 16, 2010 / South Africa / preliminary round and 2018 / Russia. Uruguay played once against the defending champions: 2002 / France .

Uruguay met newcomers to the World Cup five times: 1954 / Scotland, 1962 / Colombia, 1970 / Israel, 1986 / Denmark and 2002 / Senegal.

The most frequent opponents are Germany and France, against whom Uruguay has played four times so far, including three times against Germany in the last game of the tournament for the Uruguayans (1 × quarter-finals, 2 × game for third place), making Germany the most common last opponent.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	comment
1	07/18/1930	1-0	Peru	H	Montevideo	Preliminary round	First game at the Estadio Centenario
2	07/21/1930	4-0	Romania	H	Montevideo	Preliminary round	First international match against Romania
3	07/27/1930	6: 1	Yugoslavia	H	Montevideo	Semifinals
4th	07/30/1930	4: 2	Argentina	H	Montevideo	final	First world title. Last international match for Héctor Scarone , Uruguay's record scorer with 31 goals until 2011
5	07/02/1950	8-0	Bolivia	*	Belo Horizonte ( BRA )	Preliminary round
6th	07/09/1950	2: 2	Spain	*	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	Final round	First game against Spain
7th	07/13/1950	3: 2	Sweden	*	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	Final round	First game against Sweden
8th	07/16/1950	2: 1	Brazil	A.	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Final round ( unofficial World Cup final )	2nd world title
9	06/16/1954	2-0	Czechoslovakia	*	Bern ( CHE )	Preliminary round	First game against Czechoslovakia
10	06/19/1954	7-0	Scotland	*	Basel ( CHE )	Preliminary round	First game of a South American team against Scotland. Highest Scottish defeat
11	06/26/1954	4: 2	England	*	Basel ( CHE )	Quarter finals
12	06/30/1954	2: 4 a.d.	Hungary	*	Lausanne ( CHE )	Semifinals	First game against Hungary First defeat in a World Cup game
13	07/03/1954	1: 3	Austria	*	Zurich ( CHE )	World Cup game for 3rd place	First game against Austria
14th	05/30/1962	2: 1	Colombia	*	Arica ( CHI )	Preliminary round
15th	06/02/1962	1: 3	Yugoslavia	*	Arica ( CHI )	Preliminary round
16	06/06/1962	1: 2	Soviet Union	*	Arica ( CHI )	Preliminary round	First out in a World Cup preliminary round
17th	07/11/1966	0-0	England	A.	London ( ENG )	Opening game
18th	07/15/1966	2: 1	France	*	London ( ENG )	Preliminary round
19th	07/19/1966	0-0	Mexico	*	London ( ENG )	Preliminary round
20th	07/23/1966	0: 4	BR Germany	*	Sheffield ( ENG )	Quarter finals	First World Cup defeat of an ex-world champion against another ex-world champion
21st	06/02/1970	2-0	Israel	*	Puebla ( MEX )	Preliminary round
22nd	06/06/1970	0-0	Italy	*	Puebla ( MEX )	Preliminary round
23	06/10/1970	0: 1	Sweden	*	Puebla ( MEX )	Preliminary round
24	06/14/1970	1: 0 a.d.	Soviet Union	*	Mexico City ( MEX )	Quarter finals	Only victory against the USSR
25th	06/17/1970	1: 3	Brazil	*	Guadalajara ( MEX )	Semifinals
26th	06/20/1970	0: 1	BR Germany	*	Mexico City ( MEX )	3rd place match
27	06/15/1974	0: 2	Netherlands	*	Hanover ( DEU )	Preliminary round
28	06/19/1974	1: 1	Bulgaria	*	Hanover ( DEU )	Preliminary round	First international match against Bulgaria
29	06/23/1974	0: 3	Sweden	*	Dusseldorf ( DEU )	Preliminary round
30th	06/04/1986	1: 1	BR Germany	*	Santiago de Querétaro ( MEX )	Preliminary round
31	06/08/1986	1: 6	Denmark	*	Nezahualcóyotl ( MEX )	Preliminary round	First international match against Denmark
32	06/13/1986	0-0	Scotland	*	Nezahualcóyotl ( MEX )	Preliminary round
33	06/16/1986	0: 1	Argentina	*	Puebla ( MEX )	Round of 16
34	06/13/1990	0-0	Spain	*	Udine ( ITA )	Preliminary round
35	06/17/1990	1: 3	Belgium	*	Verona ( ITA )	Preliminary round
36	06/21/1990	1-0	South Korea	*	Udine ( ITA )	Preliminary round
37	06/25/1990	0: 2	Italy	A.	Rome ( ITA )	Round of 16
38	06/01/2002	1: 2	Denmark	*	Ulsan ( KOR )	Preliminary round
39	06/06/2002	0-0	France	*	Busan ( KOR )	Preliminary round
40	06/11/2002	3: 3	Senegal	*	Suwon ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First international match against Senegal. 700th game of Uruguay counted by FIFA
41	06/11/2010	0-0	France	*	Cape Town ( RSA )	Preliminary round
42	06/16/2010	3-0	South Africa	A.	Pretoria ( RSA )	Preliminary round
43	06/22/2010	1-0	Mexico	*	Rustenburg ( RSA )	Preliminary round
44	06/26/2010	2: 1	South Korea	*	Port Elizabeth ( RSA )	Round of 16
45	07/02/2010	1: 1 a.d. 4: 2 i. E.	Ghana	*	Johannesburg ( RSA )	Quarter finals	First international match against Ghana
46	07/06/2010	2: 3	Netherlands	*	Cape Town ( RSA )	Semifinals
47	07/10/2010	2: 3	Germany	*	Port Elizabeth ( RSA )	3rd place match
48	06/14/2014	1: 3	Costa Rica	*	Fortaleza ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First loss to Costa Rica
49	06/19/2014	2: 1	England	*	Sao Paulo ( BRA )	Preliminary round
50	06/24/2014	1-0	Italy	*	Natal ( BRA )	Preliminary round	50th World Cup game and 50th win against a European team
51	06/28/2014	0: 2	Colombia	*	Rio de Janeiro ( BRA )	Round of 16
52	June 15, 2018	1-0	Egypt	*	Yekaterinburg ( RUS )	Preliminary round
53	June 20, 2018	1-0	Saudi Arabia	*	Rostov-on-Don ( RUS )	Preliminary round	100th international match by Luis Suárez
54	June 25, 2018	3-0	Russia	A.	Samara ( RUS )	Preliminary round	100th international match by Fernando Muslera
55	06/30/2018	2: 1	Portugal	*	Sochi ( RUS )	Round of 16
56	07/06/2018	0: 2	France	*	Nizhny Novgorod ( RUS )	Quarter finals

Record against the other world champions at world championships

•  Germany : 4 games, 1 draw, 3 defeats; 3: 9 goals
•  France : 4 games, 1 win, 2 draws, 1 loss; 2: 3 goals
•  England : 3 games, 2 wins, 1 draw; 6: 3 goals
•  Italy : 3 games, 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss each; 1: 2 goals
•  Argentina : 2 games, 1 win, 1 loss; 4: 3 goals
•  Brazil : 2 games, 1 win, 1 loss; 3: 4 goals
•  Spain : 2 games, 2 draws; 2: 2 goals

Records

• Only world champions who only played in one stadium: Uruguay (1930 at the Estadio Centenario ) and England (1966 at Wembley Stadium )
• The youngest coach of a world championship team was Alberto Suppici in 1930 at the age of 31.
• Fastest goal after a substitution: Richard Morales after 16 seconds against Senegal at the 2002 World Cup.
• Fewest games to become world champions: 4 - Uruguay in 1930 and 1950 and Italy in 1938, as they were either automatically qualified as organizers (1930) or world champions (1938) or two opponents did not compete (1950).
• Most frequent pairing in the third place match: Uruguay - Germany (1970 and 2010)
• The highest wins in two tournaments:
  • 1930 Uruguay - Yugoslavia 6: 1 (as well as Argentina - USA) - both in the semi-finals, at the same time highest victories in a semi-final after the preliminary round.
  • 1950 Uruguay - Bolivia 8-0 in the preliminary round
• Record fourth: 1954, 1970 and 2010

• Most frequent qualification via intercontinental playoffs: 2002 , 2010 and 2014
• Highest away win in an intercontinental playoff: 5-0 in Amman against Jordan on November 13, 2013

Negative records

• The quickest dismissal: José Batista in the game Uruguay against Scotland at the 1986 World Cup (final score 0-0) after 56 seconds by referee Joël Quiniou (France).
• The biggest defeat in a quarter-finals after the preliminary round: Uruguay 0-4 Germany in 1966 (as well as Northern Ireland - France 1958)

Highest victories and defeats

The Uruguayan team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  England : quarter-finals 1954 - 4-2 (also a 2-0 in a friendly)
•  Portugal : Round of 16 2018 - 2-1 (first win against Portugal)
•  Romania : preliminary round 1930 - 4-0
•  Saudi Arabia : Preliminary round 2018 - 1-0 (first win against Saudi Arabia)
•  Scotland : preliminary round 1954 - 7-0 (biggest loss in Scotland)
•  Sweden : Finals 1950 - 3-2 (only win so far)
•  South Africa : preliminary round 2010 - 3-0
•  Russia : Preliminary round - 3-0 - (first win against Russia)
•  Czechoslovakia : Final round 1954 - 2-0 (also a friendly game that was won 3-1)
•  Soviet Union : quarter-finals 1970 - 1-0 aet (only win)

The Uruguayan team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Belgium : Preliminary round 1990 - 1: 3 (also a 0: 2 in a friendly match)
•  Costa Rica : Preliminary round 2014 - 1: 3 (only defeat against Costa Rica)
•  Denmark : preliminary round 1986 - 1: 6
•  France : quarter-finals 2018 - 2-0 (also a 0-2 at the 1985 Intercontinental Cup)
•  Yugoslavia : preliminary round 1962 - 1: 3
•  Netherlands : preliminary round 1974 - 0-2
•  Austria : Match for 3rd place 1954 - 1: 3 (only defeat against Austria)
•  Sweden : preliminary round 1974 - 0-3
•  Hungary : semi-finals 1954 - 2-4 a.m. (only defeat against Hungary)

See also

• fifa.com: Football World Cups - Statistics - Uruguay

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Won one game on penalties .
2. ↑ Facts Sheet - FIFA World Cup ^TM : All-time ranking (PDF; 126 kB). FIFA
3. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 219 kB)
4. ↑ The decisive game for the World Cup title at the 1950 World Cup was only the last game in a final round of the top four teams due to a different mode of execution.
5. ↑ Uruguay completes field of World Cup participants. In: fussball-wm-total.de. FOOTBALL WORLD CUP total, November 21, 2013, accessed on November 21, 2013 . 
6. ↑ Uruguay 4-2 Bolivia
7. ↑ fifa.com: Magical football evening for Uruguay, Argentina and Colombia
8. ↑ kicker.de: "Nine games suspension for Suarez"