Uruguay at the FIFA World Cup explained

This is a record of Uruguay's results at the FIFA World Cup. Uruguay have won two. Not four FIFA-organized World Football Championships. (But FIFA recognizes the 1924 and 1928 wins by Uruguay). They won the first World Championship organized by FIFA under the Olympic Committee umbrella with true representation from all continents; before then, football in the Olympics comprised only European teams. Uruguay then won the next two World Cups (Jules Rimet Trophy) in which they participated; these tournaments, the 1930 and 1950 FIFA World Cups, were fully independent from the Olympics and employed clear rules distinguishing professional and amateur football players. Since 1924 marked the beginning of true international football competition, organized by FIFA, FIFA recognizes Uruguay as two time world champions and allows the team to wear two stars on their uniforms during official international football competitions. (Before 1974, the FIFA World Cup was referred to as the Football World Championship, and the nine champions from 1930 to 1970 received replicas of the Jules Rimet Trophy.) Uruguay hosted and won the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, beating Argentina 4–2 in the final. They won their second and last title in 1950, upsetting host Brazil 2–1 in the final match. The team have qualified for fourteen World Cups, reaching the second round in ten, the semi-finals five times, and the final twice. They also won the gold medal in Olympic football twice, in 1924 and 1928, before the creation of the World Cup. Uruguay won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament comprising former World Cup champions hosted in Uruguay to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first World Championship. Uruguay is one of the most successful teams in the world, having won nineteen FIFA official titles: two World Cups, two Olympic Games, and fifteen Copa América championships.

Uruguay refused to participate in 1934 and defend their title because many European nations declined to take part in 1930 held in Uruguay. They also refused to enter in 1938 because FIFA's decision to hold the tournament in France caused outrage in South America where it was believed that the venue would alternate between the two continents.

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Champions	1st	4	4	0	0	15	3
1934	Did not enter
1938
1950	Champions^[1]	. Likewise, Sweden's 3–1 victory over Spain (played at the same time as Uruguay vs Brazil) ensured that they finished third.	1st	4	3	1	0	15	5
1954	Fourth place	4th	5	3	0	2	16	9
1958	Did not qualify
1962	Group stage	13th	3	1	0	2	4	6
1966	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	2	1	2	5
1970	Fourth place	4th	6	2	1	3	4	5
1974	Group stage	13th	3	0	1	2	1	6
1978	Did not qualify
1982
1986	Round of 16	16th	4	0	2	2	2	8
1990	Round of 16	16th	4	1	1	2	2	5
1994	Did not qualify
1998
2002	Group stage	26th	3	0	2	1	4	5
2006	Did not qualify
2010	Fourth place	4th	7	3	2	2	11	8
2014	Round of 16	12th	4	2	0	2	4	6
2018	Quarter-finals	5th	5	4	0	1	7	3
2022	Group stage	20th	3	1	1	1	2	2
2026	To be determined
2030	Qualified as centenary co-hosts
2034	To be determined
Total	14/22	2 Titles	59	25	13	21	89	76

• Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Uruguay's World Cup record
First Match	Uruguay 1–0 (18 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay)
Biggest Win	8–0 (2 July 1950; Belo Horizonte, Brazil)
Biggest Defeat	61 (8 June 1986; Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico)
Best Result	Champions in 1930 and 1950
Worst Result	Group stage in 1962, 1974, 2002 and 2022

Matches

List of FIFA World Cup matches
Year	Round	Opponent	Score	Result
1930	Round 1		1-0	Win
	Round 1		4-0	Win
	Semi-final		6-1	Win
	Final		4-2	Win
1950	Round 1		8-0	Win
	Final round		2-2	Draw
	Final round		3-2	Win
	Final round		2-1	Win
1954	Round 1		2-0	Win
	Round 1		7-0	Win
	Quarter-final		4-2	Win
	Semi-final		2-4 (a.e.t.)	Loss
	3rd place match		1-3	Loss
1962	Group stage		2-1	Win
	Group stage		1–3	Loss
	Group stage		1–2	Loss
1966	Group stage		0–0	Draw
	Group stage		2-1	Win
	Group stage		0–0	Draw
	Quarter-final		0–4	Loss
1970	Group stage		2–0	Win
	Group stage		0-0	Draw
	Group stage		0-1	Loss
	Quarter-final		1-0 (a.e.t.)	Win
	Semi-final		1-3	Loss
	3rd place match		0-1	Loss
1974	Group stage		0-2	Loss
	Group stage		1-1	Draw
	Group stage		0-3	Loss
1986	Group stage		1-1	Draw
	Group stage		1-6	Loss
	Group stage		0-0	Draw
	Round of 16		0–1	Loss
1990	Group stage		0-0	Draw
	Group stage		1-3	Loss
	Group stage		1-0	Win
	Round of 16		0-2	Loss
2002	Group stage		1-2	Loss
	Group stage		0-0	Draw
	Group stage		3-3	Draw
2010	Group stage		0-0	Draw
	Group stage		3-0	Wim
	Group stage		1-0	Win
	Round of 16		2-1	Win
	Quarter-final		1-1 (4-2 p)	Draw
	Semi-final		2-3	Loss
	3rd place match		2-3	Loss
2014	Group stage		1-3	Loss
	Group stage		2-1	Win
	Group stage		1–0	Win
	Round of 16		0-2	Loss
2018	Group stage		1-0	Win
	Group stage		1-0	Win
	Group stage		3-0	Win
	Round of 16		2-1	Win
	Quarter-final		0-2	Loss
2022	Group stage		0-0	Draw
	Group stage		0-2	Loss
	Group stage		2-0	Win

Record by opponent

Opponent	W	D	L	Pld	GF	GA	GD
	1	0	1	2	4	3	+1
	0	0	1	1	1	3	−2
	0	0	1	1	1	3	−2
	1	0	0	1	8	0	+8
	1	0	1	2	3	4	−1
	0	1	0	1	1	1	0
	1	0	1	2	2	3	−1
	0	0	1	1	1	3	−2
	1	0	0	1	2	0	+2
	0	0	2	2	2	8	−6
	1	0	0	1	1	0	+1
	2	1	0	3	6	3	+3
	1	2	1	4	2	3	−1
	0	1	3	4	3	9	−6
	1	1	0	2	3	1	+2
	0	0	1	1	2	4	−2
	1	0	0	1	2	0	+2
	1	1	1	3	1	2	−1
	1	1	0	2	1	0	+1
	0	0	2	2	2	5	−3
	1	0	0	1	1	0	+1
	1	0	1	2	2	3	−1
	1	0	0	1	4	0	+4
	1	0	0	1	3	0	+3
	1	0	0	1	1	0	+1
	1	1	0	2	7	0	+7
	0	1	0	1	3	3	0
	1	0	0	1	3	0	+3
	2	1	0	3	3	1	+2
	1	0	1	2	2	2	0
	0	2	0	2	2	2	0
	1	0	2	3	3	6	−3
	1	0	1	2	7	4	+3

Uruguay 1930

width=175	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	4
	2	1	0	1	3	5	–2	2
	2	0	0	2	1	4	–3	0

--------

Semi-finals

----

Final

Brazil 1950

width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	1	1	0	0	8	0	2
	1	0	0	1	0	8	0
	withdrew
	withdrew

Final round

width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	3	2	1	0	7	5	5
	3	2	0	1	14	4	4
	3	1	0	2	6	11	2
	3	0	1	2	4	11	1

--------

Switzerland 1954

width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	2	2	0	0	9	0	4
	2	2	0	0	6	0	4
	2	0	0	2	0	7	0
	2	0	0	2	0	8	0

--------

Quarter-final

----

Semi-final

----

Bronze Final

Chile 1962

width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	3	2	1	0	8	5	1.60	5
	3	2	0	1	8	3	2.67	4
	3	1	0	2	4	6	0.67	2
	3	0	1	2	5	11	0.45	1

--------

England 1966

width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	3	2	1	0	4	0	∞	5
	3	1	2	0	2	1	2.00	4
	3	0	2	1	1	3	0.33	2
	3	0	1	2	2	5	0.40	1

------------

Quarter-final

Mexico 1970

See main article: 1970 FIFA World Cup.

width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	3	1	2	0	1	0	+1	4
	3	1	1	1	2	1	+1	3
	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	3
	3	0	2	1	1	3	–2	2

------------

Quarter-final

----

Semi-final

----

Bronze Final

West Germany 1974

width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	5
	3	1	2	0	3	0	+3	4
	3	0	2	1	2	5	–3	2
	3	0	1	2	1	6	–5	1

--------

Mexico 1986

width=150	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
	3	3	0	0	9	1	+8	6
	3	1	1	1	3	4	–1	3
	3	0	2	1	2	7	–5	2
	3	0	1	2	1	3	–2	1

------------

Round of 16

Italy 1990

Group E

See main article: article and 1990 FIFA World Cup Group E.

Team
	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	5
	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	4
	3	1	1	1	2	3	–1	3
	3	0	0	3	1	6	–5	0

------------

Round of 16

South Korea/Japan 2002

Group A

See main article: article and 2002 FIFA World Cup Group A.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7
	3	1	2	0	5	4	+1	5
	3	0	2	1	4	5	–1	2
	3	0	1	2	0	3	–3	1

--------

South Africa 2010

Group A

See main article: article and 2010 FIFA World Cup Group A.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
	3	2	1	0	4	0	+4	7
	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
	3	1	1	1	3	5	–2	4
	3	0	1	2	1	5	–4	1

------------

Round of 16

----

Quarter-final

----

Semi-final

----

Bronze Final

Brazil 2014

Group D

See main article: article and 2014 FIFA World Cup Group D. ------------

Round of 16

Russia 2018

Group A

See main article: article and 2018 FIFA World Cup Group A. ------------

Round of 16

----

Quarter-final

Qatar 2022

See main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Group stage

See main article: 2022 FIFA World Cup Group H.

--------

Most appearances

Rank	Player	Matches	World Cups
1	Fernando Muslera	16	2010, 2014 and 2018
2	Edinson Cavani	15	2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022
Diego Godín	15	2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022
4	Luis Suárez	14	2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022
5	Ladislao Mazurkiewicz	13	1966, 1970 and 1974
6	Martín Cáceres	12	2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022
7	Julio César Cortés	11	1962, 1966 and 1970
Egidio Arévalo Ríos	11	2010 and 2014
9	Pedro Rocha	10	1962, 1966, 1970 and 1974
Luis Ubiña	10	1966 and 1970
Diego Forlán	10	2002, 2010 and 2014
Maxi Pereira	10	2010 and 2014

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	World Cups
1	Oscar Míguez	8	1950 (5) and 1954 (3)
2	Luis Suárez	7	2010 (3), 2014 (2) and 2018 (2)
3	Diego Forlán	6	2002 (1) and 2010 (5)
4	Pedro Cea	5	1930
Juan Alberto Schiaffino	5	1950 (3) and 1954 (2)
Edinson Cavani	5	2010 (1), 2014 (1), and 2018 (3)
7	Alcides Ghiggia	4	1950
Carlos Borges	4	1954
9	Peregrino Anselmo	3	1930
Juan Hohberg	3	1954

See also

• Uruguay at the Copa América
• South American nations at the FIFA World Cup

External links

• The Official website of the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol
• FIFA Official Ranking of all Participants at Finals 1930–2002. FIFA Match Results for all Stages 1930–2002
• FIFA official site

Notes and References

1. There was no official World Cup final match in 1950. The tournament winner was decided by a final round-robin group contested by four teams (Uruguay, Brazil, Sweden, and Spain). However, Uruguay's 2–1 victory over Brazil (a match known as Maracanazo) was the decisive match (and also coincidentally one of the last two matches of the tournament) which put them ahead on points and ensured that they finished top of the group as world champions. Therefore, this match is often considered the "final" of the 1950 World Cup Web site: WC Finals 1950 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061206003927/http://www.fifa.com/infoplus/IP-301_09A_WC-finals_alltime.pdf . dead . December 6, 2006 . pdf.