Coach Marcelo Bielsa accepted full responsibility for Uruguay's early exit from the World Cup, lamenting that his tenure with the national team had yielded no lasting contribution to the sport in the country.
Uruguay's campaign concluded after a 1-0 loss to Spain, failing to secure a single victory in the tournament. The team had previously drawn against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, with the latter advancing from Group H in second place behind Spain.
Bielsa, an Argentine coach whose contract was set to expire after the World Cup, had previously indicated his time with the national team would conclude following the tournament. His remarks after the final match carried a somber, farewell tone.
"What do I leave for Uruguayan soccer? Nothing, because any contribution that a coach might make to soccer in a country after three years of work never truly takes hold if results aren’t achieved," Bielsa stated. He referenced Uruguay's fourth-place finish in qualifiers and a third-place finish in the Copa América as insufficient, adding that the current World Cup performance also offered no lasting legacy.
"A tenure that left nothing behind," he concluded.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Bielsa felt the team had not received favorable luck, believing they were deserving of more points. "I think we deserved to win seven points from the three matches, but we leave with only two points," he said.
Uruguay, ranked 19th in the FIFA rankings, is the highest-ranked team to be eliminated from the tournament thus far. This marks the second time Bielsa has coached a team that did not advance beyond the group stage at a World Cup, a fate his Argentinian side met in 2002. His most successful World Cup result was guiding Chile to the round of 16 in 2010.