Uruguay appoints FIFA after flight chaos: selection only goes to Miami late for the World Cup match with Saudi Arabia

Uruguay's preparation for the 2026 World Cup has been thrown into disarray by travel problems. The squad's flight from Cancun to Miami was delayed on Sunday, meaning the team is not expected to arrive in the United States until about 24 hours before the first group match. The opener against Saudi Arabia awaits in Miami on Monday at 6:00 PM ET.

According to several reports from Uruguay, the aircraft on which the delegation was supposed to travel from Cancun was not allowed to enter the US. A second aircraft was then arranged to take the team to South Florida.

The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) released a statement on Sunday: "Due to problems outside the AUF's sphere of influence, the departure from Mexico has been delayed. The selection is resting in the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4:15 p.m." When asked by The Athletic whether the delay was due to FIFA, an AUF spokesperson replied: “Correct.”


Later in the day, FIFA responded: "A licensing error by an airline in Mexico delayed the departure of the Uruguayan team from Cancun to Miami. The airline has apologized for the inconvenience. FIFA remained in close contact with the Uruguayan team throughout the delay and worked with airport and operational partners to expedite the process and minimize disruption to the trip."

Meanwhile, Uruguay trained in Cancún in the morning hours on Sunday. A planned press conference in Miami with national coach Marcelo Bielsa and center back José María Giménez was scheduled for 6:45 p.m. local time, but eventually started at 8 p.m.

The AUF also shared a message from 2010 from former international Diego Forlán on the official “Who is to blame???”, he wrote then, followed by “Arriba Uruguay!!”.

Bielsa was already critical of the organization during the Conmebol Copa América last year. He called the association “a plague of liars” and said press conferences wrongly claimed that fields and training facilities were perfect. He also referred to the United States and 'FIFAGate', saying that there was self-interest, but that nothing else happened. At the same time, he called the tournament “a fantastic party” and “competitive”, about which he said there was nothing to complain about.

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