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Published : 22 Jun 2026, 07:43 PM
Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa was left scratching his head on Sunday after ending up with draws in two World Cup games he thought his team should have won.
La Celeste, world champions in 1930 and 1950, opened their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia in Miami and returned to the same stadium on Sunday for a 2-2 draw with World Cup debutants Cape Verde.
"We know we have two draws, two matches that we could have won, we should have been able to win," the 70-year-old Argentine told reporters.
"There's no doubt we deserved to win the match with Saudi Arabia and also the match today as well. We should have won it. Even with the goals that we conceded, we should have won still."
Defensive Mix-Up
Uruguay conceded the first goal from a long-range free kick that flew between the two defenders in the wall, while the second came from a defensive mix-up.
"Organisational mistakes that a squad makes, they always fall upon the driver. And what I mean by that is the head coach," Bielsa added.
"Then you just ask me how can I fix it? In those situations, there is no magical recipe whatsoever to fix them. They are circumstances that happen in football.
"And it goes without saying, we paid a very high cost for those mistakes. It is so expensive to concede goals like the ones that we conceded."
Uruguay are joint second with Cape Verde in Group H two points behind their next opponents Spain, who earlier on Sunday thrashed the Saudis 4-0.
Bielsa said his team had an obligation to turn up and beat the European champions in Guadalajara on Friday to qualify for the round of 32.
"It is a gargantuan challenge for all of us. I'm the head coach. I'm in charge," he said.
"Uruguay were only able to get two points of the six so far. And given the squad (Spain) have, we have to improve our image against a huge opponent.
"But in no way, shape, or form would I say that we are not going to be going into that match with the highest level of motivation."
