World Cup 2026: Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight home, has players fly commercial after elimination

The ugliness of Uruguay’s 2026 World Cup elimination apparently goes well beyond the field.

The AUF, Uruguay’s soccer federation, has canceled the charter flight set to take players from their base camp in Mexico back to their capital city of Montevideo, according to Uruguayan broadcaster Tenfield. Players will instead be left to take commercial flights either home or to vacations with their families.

Uruguay’s World Cup campaign officially ended on Friday with a 1-0 loss to Spain, which allowed Cape Verde to advance to the knockout rounds in one of the most shocking group results in the history of the tournament. It is a mortifying result for a squad overwhelming favored to advance over Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia.

Manager Marcelo Bielsa went viral in the aftermath, furiously yelling at journalists in a postgame interview.

Uruguay’s winless performance will mark the end of an era that saw rampant infighting under Bielsa, an accomplished but controversial coach who joined Uruguay in 2023. That tenure included Luis Suarez, the country’s all-time leading goal scorer, retiring from international play after a dispute with the coach.

The country reached the quarterfinals in 2018, but has now experienced two straight group exits after getting squeezed out by Portugal and South Korea in 2022.