Uruguay National Football Team (AEWCF)

Medal record
Men's Football

Uruguay
Association	Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol
Confederation	CONSNAF
FIFA code	URU
FIFA ranking	9
Highest FIFA ranking	3 (1936)
Lowest FIFA ranking	9 (1950-)
First international
	Uruguay 2-3 Argentina; (Montevideo, Uruguay; 16 May 1901)
Biggest win
	Jamaica 0-11 Uruguay; (Helsingborg, Sweden; 21 June 1950)
FIFA World Cup
Appearances	6 (First in 1906)
Best result	Champions, (1906, 1926)
Copa América
Appearances	13 (First in 1920)
Best result	Champions, (1923, 1925, 1927, 1941, 1947)

The Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay is international association football. It is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol.

Uruguay is one of six nations that have won the FIFA World Cup with them winning the first World Cup in 1906 where they defeated Austria 4-0 in the final before being the first nation to win twice after taking home the 1926 trophy against the Netherlands in extra time.

History

Beginnings and Civil War

Uruguay first match was against Argentina which they lost 3-2 but heading into the 1906 FIFA World Cup, they were considered underdogs from European reporters at the World Cup. But with the help of Carlos Cespedes, they shook the footballing world by taking the trophy when they defeated Austria 3-0 in the final.

But that was the last that we would see the team as two years later, the nation was in the war and was that way until 1913. But the return of the nation on the football field was much longer with the team returning in 1920, just in time to compete at the second Copa América held at Argentina. For the team, they would struggle with them not getting a single win from their three games.

1920s Success

After failing to make an impact in 1922, they took home their first Copa America trophy which would become the first of three titles in a row. This gave the team confidence as headed over to Paris for the 1924 Summer Olympics as the only South American team. Despite having to start in Round 1, the team took the gold medal as they defeated Italy 1-0 in the final at Colombes. After taking the 1926 FIFA World Cup held in Spain defeating the Netherlands in extra time.

All of the teams were expecting to see another gold medal hanging round the Uruguayan necks in Amsterdam. After defeating Switzerland and Portugal easy, they took on Italy in a replay of the previous Olympic final. But unlike the first time that these two teams met, it wouldn't be a happy ending with Uruguay losing in the final 2-0 with Elvio Banchero being the scorer for Italy.

Trouble at home

Coming into their home World Cup, the team only had four matches between 1929 and 1930 with all of them being against Argentina. This though didn't determine them in the group stage with them finishing top of the group. But in the quarterfinals, they had a shock loss to Czechoslovakia at Montevideo. After not entering the 1931 South American Championship, they only just scraped through to the 1934 FIFA World Cup when they defeated Peru in a play-off.

In Italy, the team struggle to gel and after losing to Sweden and then their rivals Argentina as they were eliminated in the group stage. For Uruguay, this was the first time they hadn't made the knockout stage in Europe. They did better, the next year in Peru with the team finishing 2nd in the South American Championship. From there, it went downhill with a 5th place finish at the next South American Championship in Argentina before being bundled out of the opening round in the 1938 FIFA World Cup losing to Hungary.

Brief Success

After the Second World War, Uruguay entered the 1947 South American Championship as they hoped to gain at least a title which they won in 1941 when it was held in Chile. After a shock loss to Paraguay (who was ranked 30th), they regain their form by taking out the title after they drew with Argentina on the final matchday which was enough to hold of Paraguay from taking out the title. The team would fall hard in the next edition of the tournament where they would end up in fifth place overall after only scoring three points.

When the 1950 FIFA World Cup came round, some experts was thinking that the team would easily get through Group B, this they did well with the team winning all four matches including a record scoring match against Jamaica in which they got 11 pass the keeper with Óscar Míguez and Rubén Morán both scoring hat-tricks in the demolition. In the quarter-final against France, they would lose the match by a score of 2-1 which would eliminate the team from the tournament.

Rivalries

Main article: Argentina-Uruguay football rivalry
The rivalries between Argentina and Uruguay is one of the main rivalries that is in the sport of football with Argentina currently leading this battle after they won the previous encounter between these two nations.

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup

Gold Silver Bronze

FIFA World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D *	L	GF	GA
1906	Champions	1st	4	3	1	0	7	1
1910	Civil War
1914	Civil War
1922	Did Not Compete
1926	Champions	1st	6	4	2	0	12	3
1930	Quarter Finalist	5th	4	3	0	1	9	4
1934	Group Stage	12th	3	1	0	2	3	4
1938	Round 1	10th	1	0	0	1	2	3
1950	Quarter Finalist	5th	5	4	0	1	18	5
Total	Champions	6/9	23	15	3	5	52	20

Copa América

Champions Runners-up Third Place Fourth Place

South American Championship
Year	Round	Position	GP	Won	Drawn*	Lost	GS	GA
1918	Did Not Compete
1920	Fourth Place	4th	3	0	0	3	0	11
1922	Fourth Place	4th	4	1	1	2	2	2
1923	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	4	1
1925	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	7	1
1927	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0	17	2
1931	Did Not Compete
1935	Runner Up	2nd	3	2	0	1	5	3
1937	Fifth Place	5th	5	1	1	3	10	12
1939	Third Place	3rd	4	1	2	1	9	5
1941	Champions	1st	4	3	0	1	7	1
1945	Third Place	3rd	6	3	2	1	14	4
1947	Champions	1st	5	3	1	1	17	9
1949	Fifth Place	5th	5	1	1	3	11	16

External Links

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