Uruguay dropped in the live FIFA world rankings following a frustrating 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia to open their 2026 World Cup campaign. Heading into Sunday’s match against Cape Verde at Miami Stadium, La Celeste needs a victory to jumpstart their tournament run and rebuild their ranking points.
Uruguay currently sits in 18th place in the FIFA Ranking live projections with 1661.95 points. Marcelo Bielsa’s squad entered the tournament in 16th place with 1673 points, but the opening stalemate against the Saudis triggered an immediate slide in the live tracking.
While historically a South American powerhouse, Uruguay is far from its all-time peak of second place achieved back in 2012. The team currently ranks as the fourth-best CONMEBOL nation behind Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia, while also trailing the USMNT (13th) when looking across the Americas.
Uruguay remains the paper favorite in Group H despite the opening stumble. Powerhouse Spain leads the section in third place globally following a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia, while the Saudis sit 61st and World Cup debutants Cape Verde trail at 67th.
Maxi Araujo #20 of Uruguay celebrates with teammate Jose Maria Gimenez.
A loss on Sunday would severely damage Uruguay’s knockout stage hopes and tank their official ranking position. On the bright side, La Celeste has never lost a World Cup match to an African nation, carrying an all-time record of three wins and two draws into the fixture.
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Uruguay looking to break back into Top 10
Uruguay has steadily lost ground to rival nations since winning their last major trophy at the 2011 Copa America. Despite boasting world-class talent like Federico Valverde, Ronald Araujo, and Jose Maria Gimenez, the federation needs a deep tournament run to break back into the global elite.
The national team last cracked the top 10 in May 2021, when they briefly held the ninth position. They fell to 13th later that summer and have frequently hovered in 11th place without officially crossing the top-10 threshold.
