MONTEVIDEO — The Uruguayan Football Association announced Uruguay's 26-player squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in a video featuring the song "Cielo de un solo color." by the Uruguayan band No Te Va Gustar. The announcement included a surprise appearance of head coach Marcelo Bielsa riding a bicycle.
The roster features goalkeepers Santiago Mele of Monterrey, Sergio Rochet of Inter de Brasil, and Fernando Muslera of Estudiantes de La Plata. Muslera will participate in his fifth FIFA World Cup. Eight defenders were selected: José María Giménez from Atlético de Madrid, Sebastián Cáceres of América de México, Matías Viña of River Plate, Joaquín Piquerez from Palmeiras, Ronald Araujo of Barcelona, Mathías Olivera of Napoli, Santiago Bueno of Wolverhampton, and Guillermo Varela of Flamengo. Eleven midfielders made the final cut: Facundo Pellistri at Panathinaikos, Rodrigo Zalazar of SC Braga, Giorgian De Arrascaeta and Nicolás De la Cruz from Flamengo, Juan Manuel Sanabria of Real Salt Lake, Manuel Ugarte at Manchester United, Rodrigo Bentancur of Tottenham, Federico Valverde of Real Madrid, Maximiliano Araújo at Sporting de Lisboa, Agustín Canobbio of Fluminense, and Emiliano Martínez from Palmeiras.
Four forwards were named to the squad: Rodrigo Aguirre of Tigres, Brian Rodríguez of América, Federico Viñas of Real Oviedo, and Darwin Núñez of Al Hilal. Núñez’s last club match was on February 16, 2026, in which he scored two goals. He played only 24 minutes across two Uruguay friendly matches in March 2026 after Al-Hilal revoked his playing license following the signing of Karim Benzema, which exceeded the club’s foreign player quota.
Veteran striker Luis Suárez was not included in the 26-player squad. Suárez scored six goals in 12 matches for Inter Miami in 2026 and has had public disagreements with head coach Marcelo Bielsa in the past. Midfielder Nahitan Nández, 30, was also omitted despite having played more than 70 matches for Uruguay, featuring in every match of the 2024 Copa América and nearly all matches of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. No public explanation was provided for Nández’s exclusion. Uruguay is in Group H of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, alongside Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde, and Spain.