The World Cup ended early for the Uruguayans. Sadly, what would be the last participation of two legends like Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani only ended in the group stage. This had happened before, although it was a long time since the last time. Here we will tell you when was the last time Uruguay were eliminated in the group stage.
It was known that they would have it very difficult. After the 0-0 draw against the Koreans and the 2-0 defeat against the Portuguese, the Uruguayans no longer depended on themselves. They needed to beat Ghana and hope South Korea didn’t win against Portugal or, in the event of a victory for the Asians, they would win by 3 goals difference.
Uruguay played a great game against the Ghanaian team, eager for revenge for what happened in South Africa 2010. They even had a penalty in their favor, but they missed it and from there the Uruguayans showed their best version, winning the game 2-0. The bad news came from the Education City Stadium, since almost at the end, South Korea converted the 2-1 that forced Uruguay to score one more goal. The goal did not come, and thus the South Americans were eliminated.
The last group stage elimination
Since that historic fourth place in South Africa 2010, Uruguay had always passed the round, so you have to go further back in time to see what that last elimination in the group stage was like. In Germany 2006, the Uruguayans failed to qualify, so that last time was in Korea-Japan 2002.
In that World Cup they had a really difficult group, which they shared with France (last champions), Denmark and Senegal. The Uruguayans lost in their debut 2-1 with the Danes, then they would draw 0-0 with the French and 3-3 with the Senegalese. They finished in 3rd place in the group, just above France who only got 1 point.