Uruguay 1995-98 Home Matchworn v Brazil
Uruguay 2018 Home
Patterned material, deep blue and white accenting on the sides and high quality logos. This is a quality shirt and a truly beautiful one at that. What more is there to say, even the high collar (which is a crime) has some blue edging to it to make it better. Enerre have a good reputation and they have it for a reason. The numberset fits on it nicely and in general it just gives the impression of being really well put together, I’m a definite fan.
Used across a number of tournaments, Uruguay won the 1995 Copa América on penalties against Brazil (also eliminating Colombia and Bolivia), finished 4th at the 1997 Confederations Cup (with a 100% group stage but falling to an Australian golden goal and then the Czechs got revenge in the 3rd/4th play-off), were eliminated in the 1997 Copa América group stage (edged by Peru and Bolivia but beat Venezuela) and lastly fell 4 points and a 17 goal swing short of 1998 World Cup qualification, finishing 7th of 9 teams. All in all, a mixed bag from them where they’d have hoped to do better.
The second shirt is comparatively disappointing in looks, with a little black accenting but not much else to it that’s readily visible. However, the speckle pattern across the top of the shirt adds a little and the Sun of May from the national flag is sprayed across the centre in a similar style. Definitely a nice enough shirt but can’t live up to the highlights they have in their past, though how many modern shirts can?
Used for the 2018 World Cup, Uruguay were expected to progress to the knockouts from a group with hosts Russia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. However, a late header to beat Egypt and a fortunate goal to edge the Saudis 1-0 as well was a disappointing start. A 3-0 thrashing of Russia let them top the group and a fantastic Cavani double downed Portugal. However, in the quarter-finals they met France, losing 2-0 from a set piece and a Muslera keeping error.
The latter experience is definitely more typical of Uruguay, a nation that started off life incredibly but is more typified in the modern era by narrow qualifications and consistent knockout stage appearances. 6 of their 15 Copa América titles came before 1930, with only 2 since 1990 to add that total. Their 1924 and 1928 Olympic titles (when it was essentially the World Cup) make up their 4 stars on their crest with their 1930 and 1950 World Cup titles (with 1950 being the infamous final where Brazilian newspapers called their team the champions before the game). Refusing to take part in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, they remain the only team unable to defend their World Cup title but have only otherwise missed 5 World Cups and never more than 2 consecutively. 4th place in 1954, 1970 and 2010 (undeservedly!) show they’re never to be underestimated too, though they tend to qualify through the play-offs.
Their low population really hurts their women’s team, as they are considerably less established than the men. First playing in 1998, they’ve only gained 5 wins and 3 draws from their 25 Copa América Femenina games, and three of those wins were in their spectacular third place in 2006. Otherwise, they typically finish at or near the bottom in their continent with some significant losses and no blowout wins in their history. In terms of youth teams, the men have the U20s trying to emulate the senior side, with 8 continental titles (7 from 1981 and prior) and 6 World Cup top 4 finishes (twice runners-up). They’ve only been to one Olympics since 1928, though tend to finish top 4 continentally and have no U17 or U15 titles, though were runners-up 5 times continentally combined and once in the 2011 U17 World Cup. Their U20 women’s side has won 5 competitive matches, 3 against Bolivia, but the U17s have 2 World Cup qualifications and a 2nd and 3rd place finish continentally, showing that they have a good base to build from!
Though competitive in futsal, Uruguay cannot challenge the continental titans, with only 5 top 3 finishes and no titles. 3 FIFA Futsal World Cup appearances have brought little success and the U20s and U17s are competitive but very much middle of the pack too. Their women’s futsal sides are surprisingly similar, with a 2nd place at senior level and a 3rd at U20 level, but generally midtable finishes otherwise. Beach soccer, they again fall short of Brazil (who doesn’t?) but otherwise have been impressive. A great qualifying record (often 2nd place continentally) has given them 16 World Cup appearances from 21. They’ve been runners-up thrice (each time to Brazil), 3rd place 4 times and 4th place once, though haven’t placed top 4 since 2009. The less said about their U20 record the better, could their star continue to wane?
Ranked 2nd in CONMEBOL for 2022 World Cup qualification, they’re fully expected to qualify, despite the difficulty involved. A 2-1 win over Chile and a 4-2 loss in Quito doesn’t quite showcase what they’d want to though. Another play-off attempt in store?
Adam's National Shirt Collection 