With a population smaller than Los Angeles, Uruguay is per capita by far the most successful soccer nation.
“Other countries have their history. Uruguay has its soccer,” said Ondino Viera, Uruguay’s coach at the 1966 World Cup.
Here are five things to know about that history:
1. Soccer’s first international superstar
Jose Andrade starred on the Uruguay teams that won the 1924 and 1928 Olympic soccer tournaments, and the inaugural 1930 World Cup that Uruguay hosted.His day jobs included carnival musician and shoe-shiner. Uruguay’s venture to the 1924 Olympics in Paris marked the first time a Latin American team played in Europe. “The first international soccer icon was black, South American, and poor,” wrote Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano in “Soccer in Sun and Shadow.”
2. The first World Cup
Uruguay, then with a population of just 2 million, was named host of the first World Cup because it won the previous two Olympic tournaments and it offered to pay travel costs of all entrants. It also used the tournament to celebrate its 100th anniversary of independence. Uruguay beat Argentina, 4-2, in the final.
3. The biggest upset
Instead of a knockout format, the 1950 World Cup consisted of round-robin group play that led to a final game in which Brazil needed just a tie against Uruguay to lift the title. Some 200,000 people attended, expecting to celebrate Brazil’s first World Cup title in Rio de Janeiro. After they sang the national anthem, the governor of Brazil said to the team, “Fifty million Brazilians await your victory.” Brazil scored two minutes after halftime, but gave up the equalizer from Juan Schiaffino 20 minutes later. With 11 minutes left, Alcides Ghiggia scored for a 2-1 Uruguay win. “Only three people have, with just one motion, silenced the Maracana: Frank Sinatra, Pope John Paul II and me,” said Ghiggia, who died on July 16, 2015, 65 years to the day after the game.
🎥 Watch (👇): 1950 World Cup final highlights
4. Copa America success
Uruguay’s South American rivals Brazil and Argentina have populations of 213 million and 46 million, respectively. Uruguay (population: 3.4 million) has won 15 Copa Americas. In 2024, Uruguay lost to Argentina 1-0 in the final. Its 1-0 win over the USA in the group stage was Gregg Berhalter‘s last match as USMNT head coach.
5. U.S. national team connection
Hall of Famer Tab Ramos, who played in three World Cups for the USA and at the 1988 Olympics, was born in Montevideo and immigrated to the USA at age 11. The late Fernando Clavijo was born in Maldonado in 1956 and came to the USA from Uruguay in 1979 to play for the New York Apollo of the American Soccer League. He played on the USA team that reached the second round of the 1994 World Cup.
Looks like Uruguay’s biggest export is soccer players, like Iceland.
Fun Fact #11. Futsal originated in Uruguay in 1930 when Professor of Physical Education at the YMCA of Montevideo, Juan Carlos Ceriani, created it to be played on local basketball courts. Soccer was exceedingly popular in Uruguay, especially after it had won the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and gold medals in the 1924 and ’28 Summer Olympics. I had read that Ceriani created an indoor version of it to be played as the soccer fields were filled to capacity as well as he was tired of rain-soaked fields and cancelled training sessions outdoors.
Ben , when it comes to Iceland, I think the word “soccer player” is used rather loosely. Obviously that country is not big enough to have a decent league….Likewise, I often wonder how those Central American countries are able to have a decent league..
SA, should write an article on how the youth develop there.
The Central American Countries should form one nation and then would be a true competitor in the sport.