Uruguay National Football Team

The Uruguay national football team is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol.

Uruguay is one of the most successful national football teams in the world. They have won two FIFA World Cups, including the first ever World Cup in 1930 as hosts, beating Argentina 4-2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting hosts Brazil 2-1 in the final match. They also won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928, before the creation of the World Cup. They also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions Uruguay hosted in 1980 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first World Cup.

Their success is amplified by the fact that the nation has a very small population. Uruguay is the only country in the world to win a World Cup with a general population of under 4 million inhabitants and is by far the smallest nation to do so. The second smallest country to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a total population of over 40 million people. Uruguay is also the smallest country ever to win any World Cup medals. In fact, only six nations with populations smaller than Uruguay's have ever participated in any World Cup: Northern Ireland (3 times), Wales, Kuwait, Jamaica, Slovenia and Trinidad and Tobago. Uruguay is also the smallest nation to win Olympic gold medals in any team sport. This latter achievement might recently have been surpassed by Iceland, which lost the 2008 Olympic final in handball.

Uruguay is also the smallest member nation of CONMEBOL, South American Football Association. Nethertheless, Uruguayan national team also have won the Copa América 14 different times, a record it shares with Argentina.

However, the level of the Uruguay national team has decreased lately as Uruguay has only qualified on one occasion in the last 4 World Cups, although it remains a strong team in South America, having reached third place and fourth place in the last two Copa América tournaments, respectively.



Competitive record

FIFA World Cup Record
1930 - Champions
1934 - Withdrew
1938 - Withdrew
1950 - Champions
1954 - Semi-Finals
1958 - Did Not Qualify
1962 - Round 1
1966 - Quarter-finals
1970 - Semi-Finals
1974 - Round 1
1978 - Did Not Qualify
1982 - Did Not Qualify
1986 - Round 2
1990 - Round 2
1994 - Did Not Qualify
1998 - Did Not Qualify
2002 - Round 1
2006 - Did Not Qualify

Copa América record
1916 - Champions
1917 - Champions
1919 - Runners-up
1920 - Champions
1921 - Third place
1922 - Third place
1923 - Champions
1924 - Champions
1925 - Withdrew
1926 - Champions
1927 - Runners-up
1929 - Third place
1935 - Champions
1937 - Third place
1939 - Runners-up
1941 - Runners-up
1942 - Champions
1945 - Fourth place
1946 - Fourth place
1947 - Third place
1949 - Sixth place
1953 - Third place
1955 - Fourth place
1956 - Champions
1957 - Third place
1959 - Sixth place
1959 - Champions
1963 - Withdrew
1967 - Champions
1975 - Semifinals
1979 - Round 1
1983 - Champions
1987 - Champions
1989 - Runners-up
1991 - Round 1
1993 - Quarterfinals
1995 - Champions
1997 - Round 1
1999 - Runners-up
2001 - Fourth place
2004 - Third place
2007 - Fourth place