Uruguay’s 2026 World Cup ended in Guadalajara with a 1-0 loss to Spain, a result that confirmed their elimination at the group stage for the second consecutive tournament. The decisive moment came from a goalkeeping error: Fernando Muslera misjudged a long-range effort from Álex Baena, and the ball squirmed in. Muslera did not reappear for the second half, a decision Bielsa later said was taken by the player himself. As the final whistle blew, television microphones caught the coach shouting “¡Dale de una vez!” at pitchside producers, a flash of fury that set the tone for a rancorous aftermath.

The defeat left Uruguay with two points from three matches, having drawn with Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. Needing a win to have any chance of progressing, Bielsa’s side struggled to create clear openings. The coach replaced captain Federico Valverde with striker Federico Viñas early in the second half, a move he explained as an attempt to add attacking power, but the equaliser never came. Uruguay finished third in Group H, one of the worst third-placed teams, and departed North America without a single victory.

In his press conference, Bielsa offered a blunt self-assessment. “What I have given to Uruguayan football is nothing,” he said. “Any contribution a coach can make in three years is worthless without positive results.” He insisted his team had deserved seven points from their three games, not two, and accepted that the public would remember him as someone who “left nothing.” Argentine outlets noted the coach’s refusal to deflect blame onto his players, while Brazilian commentators quoted former defender Diego Lugano, who accused Bielsa of having “contaminated the environment” and never understanding where he was.

The elimination crystallised a decline that began after the 2024 Copa América. A public falling-out with Luis Suárez, who later retired from international football, split the camp. Bielsa declined to recall Suárez for the World Cup and left out other experienced figures. British analysis traced a sharp downturn in results after that rupture: from 11 wins in 18 games to just five in the next 17. Uruguayan newspapers described the campaign as “one of the worst eliminations in 50 years” and a “bath of reality,” with El País labelling the team “the disappointment of South America.” The Uruguayan Football Association reportedly cancelled the team’s chartered return flight, obliging players to travel home on commercial services.

Bielsa had already announced he would step down after the tournament. His three-year cycle ends with a fourth-place finish in South American qualifying, a Copa América bronze medal, and a World Cup group-stage exit. The search for a successor now begins, with some supporters already voicing a preference for a Uruguayan coach to reconnect the side with its traditional identity.