In Suarez’s last match, Uruguay tied and Argentina has a bigger advantage

Uruguay, runner-up to the Argentine national team, experienced a special night in a Centenario stadium to the fullest due to the retirement of Suárez, the Celeste’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 143 matches.

“Thank you for everything, Lucho!”, “You were and will always be my eternal idol”, “You are unique and unmatched”: more than 60,000 souls filled the stands of the Centenario to see the 2011 Copa América champion, who at 37 years of age wore his national team’s jersey for the last time.

But the excitement in the stands did not carry over to the pitch, where a boring match with few dangerous situations was played.

The Celeste was rarely able to impose the fast-paced game that distinguishes coach Marcelo Bielsa, contained by a successful defensive strategy by his colleague and compatriot Gustavo Alfaro, who in his debut achieved what he went to Montevideo to look for: a draw to alleviate the complicated situation of the Guaraníes in the qualifiers.

With this result, Uruguay remains in second place with 14 points, four less than Argentina, while Paraguay moved up to seventh place, in the play-off zone for the 2026 World Cup.

The South American qualifiers allocate six direct places to the World Cup in North America among ten teams, and the seventh team has the possibility of a play-off with a team from another confederation.

Argentina, the reigning world champion and two-time champion of the Americas, is approaching the World Cup in North America at full speed after its 3-0 thrashing of Chile on Thursday, in a seventh round that also saw Bolivia’s resounding 4-0 victory over Venezuela in El Alto.

Summary of Uruguay vs Paraguay for the South American Qualifiers