Uruguay at the World Cup.
The story
Uruguay hosted and won the very first World Cup in 1930, beating Argentina 4-2 in Montevideo. Their second title is the most famous result in the sport's history: the 1950 "Maracanazo" — a 2-1 win in the final round-robin match at Rio's Maracanã against host Brazil. 174,000+ fans went silent. Uruguay's star count is more modest than larger nations, but their per-capita performance is unmatched. Diego Forlán won the 2010 Golden Ball; Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani led the modern era. The 4th-place finish in South Africa 2010 is their best modern result.
Famous Uruguay players
José Nasazzi · Obdulio Varela · Diego Forlán · Luis Suárez · Edinson Cavani · Diego Godín.
See our full top-20 World Cup legends list for tournament-by-tournament impact.
Uruguay in 2026
For Uruguay's 2026 World Cup campaign — group, fixtures, results — see our World Cup 2026 hub, the group standings and the match schedule.
More from the World Cup category
- → World Cup category index
- → World Cup 2026 — live hub
- → All-time top scorers
- → Country rankings — all-time medals
- → Finals history (1930-2022)
- → Golden Ball winners
- → Golden Glove winners
- → World Cup records
- → Famous supporter groups
- → Player legends — top 20
- → Country histories (Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, France, Uruguay, Spain, England)