World Cup team left stranded in wrong country in chaotic preparations for opening match
Uruguay faced chaotic preparations for their World Cup opener after being stranded outside the USA a day before the match.
The two-time winners are set to face Saudi Arabia in Miami on Monday.
However, Marcelo Bielsa’s side saw their flight from Mexico delayed due to issues with the paperwork for their plane to Florida.
Uruguay had been set to make the journey from their training base on Sunday.
Travel chaos
It comes after they arrived in Cancun to prepare for their group stage campaign.
The plane the team had planned to travel to Miami on did not have clearance to fly to the USA.
As a result, Uruguay were forced to remain at the Mayakoba Complex resort, in Cancun.
Bielsa missed his pre-match press conference on Sunday due to the delays.
He had been due to speak to the media at the Hard Rock Stadium at 8pm.
However, the national team later confirmed on their social media channels that the team had boarded their flight.
Pictures of the players at the airport as they prepared to step onto the plane were shared to X.
The first of those snaps were shared shortly after 10:30pm on Sunday, just over 24 hours before their opening match gets underway.
Uruguay face Saudi Arabia at the Hard Rock Stadium on Monday, with kick-off at 11pm, live on talkSPORT 2.
They will also play Cape Verde and Spain in Group H this month.
The South American side are scheduled to base themselves in Mexico throughout this summer’s World Cup.
Whilst their clash with Cape Verde on June 21 is also in Miami, Uruguay face Spain in Zapopan, Mexico five days later.
La Celeste are aiming to win the World Cup for the third time after previous triumphs in 1930 and 1950.
The 2022 finals saw Uruguay crash out in the group stage for the first time for 20 years.
Meanwhile, they have not gone beyond the quarter-finals since reaching the last four in 2010.
Those finals represented their third fourth place finish since winning the second of their two World Cups 76 years ago.
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