Uruguay is going home early. The two-time World Cup champions were eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on June 26 after finishing third in Group H, ending a tournament campaign that never really got started.
It is the earliest Uruguay has been knocked out of a World Cup since 2002, a stretch that makes the result sting even more for a nation that reached the knockout stage in 10 of their previous 14 appearances.
What went wrong in Group H
Uruguay’s group contained Spain, Cape Verde, and Saudi Arabia. Marcelo Bielsa’s side finished with just 2 points from three matches, recording one loss and two draws. Their goal tally read 3 scored, 4 conceded, leaving them with a goal difference of -1.
The campaign ended with a 0-1 defeat to Spain on June 26, a result that confirmed what the standings had already made clear: Uruguay had not done enough.
