Uruguay

Uruguay are out, and for a country with this much history, finishing 3rd in the group on 2 points is a real shock.

It started with a warning sign, an underwhelming 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia, where a late Ronald Araujo header just avoided an upset.

They never recovered that lost momentum, and the points they dropped early left them chasing all the way.

Third place on 2 points was not enough, because the 8 best 3rd-place spots all went to teams with more points, so Uruguay missed the cut.

That is the cruel part, since this is a country of giant history, 2-time world champions who won the very first World Cup in 1930 and again in 1950.

What made 2026 different was the goodbye, their first squad without Luis Suarez since 2002, the end of an era under cult-hero coach Marcelo Bielsa.

The engine was Federico Valverde of Real Madrid, with Darwin Nunez and Araujo carrying real quality alongside him.

But the new-look side never clicked, and Bielsa's pressing team is out at the very first stage.

The mood is flat disappointment, because a team with this name and this talent expected so much more than an early exit.