Uruguay is one of the more interesting teams, and in this writer’s opinion, the most interesting team to watch at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Head coached now by former Inter Miami boss Diego Alonso, the two-time world champions were in danger of missing out altogether on the World Cup until a change in coach and the revitalization of the young core got Uruguay back to their fourth consecutive World Cup.
Uruguay has a squad that boasts Luis Suárez, Edinson Cavani, Darwin Núñez, Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ronald Araújo, and José Giménez. A mix of experienced and young players, in their group of Portugal, Ghana, and South Korea all rivals Uruguay have beaten in the last three World Cups.
Here is how La Celeste fared during Conmebol World Cup qualifying, Alonso ‘s era began as Óscar Washington Tabárez’ s 15-year stint ended.
How did Uruguay qualify for Qatar 2022?
Uruguay finished third in Conmebol World Cup qualifying with a8-6-4 record, the team was able to turn it around after a 3-0 loss to Bolivia ended the reign of El Maestro Tabárez. It all began under Tabárez with a promising 2-1 victory at home over Chile.
Matchday 2 saw Uruguay underperform against Ecuador in Quito and lose 4-2. Matchday 3 gave Uruguay their first big result in qualifying, a 3-0 victory on the road against Colombia. An underwhelming performance against Brazil, 0-2 defeat, ended the year and discussions in Uruguay began if the Tabárez era had ran its course.
In June of 2021 and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tabárez was still in charge but results and the level of play of the team began to slow down considerably. A poor 0-0 draw at home against Paraguay left a sour taste in the mouth of Uruguayans. On the road a 0-0 draw against Venezuela further increased talks that Tabárez had taken the team to a stale state.
On the road against Peru, La Celeste got a 1-1 draw, then an unconvincing 4-2 victory over Bolivia continued talks that Uruguay did not look like their former selves. A big win against Ecuador was followed by a home draw against Colombia 0-0.
Then it all came apart, Uruguay would drop two matches to Argentina, one to Brazil, and were beaten in La Paz by Bolivia. Tabárez was fired and after a month and wide speculation Diego Alonso was given the job at the start of 2022.
Wins over Paraguay, Venezuela, and Peru put Uruguay back on track and a big win over Chile on the road gave Uruguay their ticket to Qatar. Diego Alonso has a record of 7-1-1 since taking over with his only defeat being against Iran and his only draw against the USMNT.