Fernando Muslera’s mistake opened the door for Spain, and Uruguay could not recover in a 1-0 loss on Friday in Guadalajara, Mexico. sergio rochet is the headline name in the story, but the decisive shift came when Spain took Group H and Uruguay’s World Cup ended after three matches.
Álex Baena scored in the 42nd minute after Muslera failed to fully swat away his shot from inside the area. The 40-year-old goalkeeper was pulled at halftime by Marcelo Bielsa after a third blunder of the tournament.
Spain Takes Group H
Spain finished with seven points and advanced to the knockout stage, where it will face the second-place team from Group J on Thursday in Inglewood, California. The result gave Spain control of the group and left Uruguay with no wins in its three Group H games.
The match carried extra weight beyond the scoreline. Uruguay entered after draws against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, while Cape Verde finished second in the group with three points after a 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia.
Uruguay Falls Short
Uruguay finished third but did not have enough points to reach the 8 best third-place teams that move on. That left the two-time champion out, even though it was the highest-ranked team eliminated so far at 19th in the FIFA rankings.
Spain and Uruguay in the World Cup in Guadalajara also played through a moment of silence before kickoff for those who died when back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela late Wednesday. King Felipe VI of Spain attended the match at Estadio Akron, where 45,065 watched the game.
Late in the match, Agustín Canobbio was sent off in stoppage time for a tackle on Spain defender Paul Cubarsi. Manuel Ugarte also had to come off near the end of the first half because of an apparent knee injury, adding to a night that went wrong for Uruguay from the moment Muslera’s first save spilled into Baena’s path.
