- The Charrúas and Guaraníes did not have any differences in the match for Matchday 7 of the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- Luis Suárez played his last match with the Celeste and said goodbye to his fans at the Centenario Stadium.
The Uruguay and Paraguay national teams drew 0-0 this Friday in Montevideo, on the seventh date of the FIFA World Cup – United States, Mexico and Canada 2026, in Luis Suárez’s farewell match.
The Celeste were 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 managed to equalise, in a difficult save.
With this result, Uruguay provisionally retains second place in the table, with 14 points, while Paraguay remains in seventh, with 6, pending the close of the matches between Brazil vs. Ecuador and Peru vs. Colombia, to end Matchday 7.
“Thank you so much, 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 CONMEBOL Copa América 2011 champion, who at 37 years of age wore his national team’s jersey for the last time.
On the next date, Uruguay will face Venezuela in Maturín and Paraguay will play against Brazil at the Defensores del Chaco in Asunción.
– Match Numbers –
- Uruguay entered their eighth game without a defeat against Paraguay in the South American Qualifiers (4W 4D). On the other hand, the Albirroja ended the streak of five consecutive wins for the Celeste at home in the tournament.
- It was Luis Suárez’s last game for the Uruguayan national team. The striker retires with a total of 143 appearances and 69 goals (the all-time top scorer for the Celeste). Luis Suárez retires from the international arena being the second top scorer in the South American Qualifiers with 29 goals in 60 games played, only behind Lionel Messi (31 in 65 games).
- Uruguay have gone four consecutive games without conceding in the current South American qualifiers. The last goal scored against Bielsa’s team was in the 2-2 draw against Colombia on Matchday 3.
- Uruguay conceded two shots on goal against Paraguay and has only five in its last four appearances in South American Qualifiers, an average of just 1.25 shots on target conceded per game.
- Paraguay had fewer total shots than Uruguay (8 vs. 11) but accumulated more expected goals (0.89 to 0.58). La Albirroja had the shot with the highest goal probability of the match, from Miguel Almirón in the 31st minute, with 0.57 expected goals, but the shot went wide.
CONMEBOL.com / AFP / OPTA
