Uruguay was eliminated from the 2022 Qatar World Cup in stunning fashion on Friday and perhaps no one was more gutted by the manner in which the situation played out than star striker Luis Suárez.
After getting subbed out in the 66th minute for Edinson Cavani, Suárez sat on the bench and could nothing but watch as his team closed out a 2–0 win over Ghana. However, that margin of victory proved to not be large enough as the other Group H match between South Korea and Portugal had a humongous impact on which teams advanced to the knockout round.
Despite trailing early and then holding a 1–1 tie for most of the match, South Korea’s Hwang Hee-Chan scored a heroic goal in the 91st minute to take a late lead. At that moment, South Korea and Uruguay were level at four points, but Korea held the advantage in goals scored.
While Hwang celebrated his sensational finish, Uruguay received the upsetting news and went into desperation mode. Suárez found out about the developing situation around in the 86th of his own match and appeared to be close to tears when realizing the reality of his team’s standing in the group.
Uruguay continued to push for the final few minutes, but struggled without Suárez, Darwin Núñez and Giorgian de Arrascaeta—all of whom had been subbed out at a time when Uruguay held the advantage over South Korea. Diego Alonso’s side never found the back of the net, resulting in its elimination from the tournament.
Suárez remained on the bench and was overcome with emotion when the final whistle sounded. Other members of his team lashed out in frustration, following the match’s officiating crew off the pitch and into the tunnel.
But none of the reactions or pleas will send Uruguay through to the knockout round. Instead South Korea will join Portugal out of Group H, advancing to take on the Group G winner in the round of 16.
