De la Cruz warns Uruguay must improve before Spain clash

Uruguay walked away from Miami with more questions than points after letting Cabo Verde escape with a 2-2 draw in Group H of the 2026 World Cup, a result that left Nicolás de la Cruz openly uneasy about where Marcelo Bielsa’s side stands after two matches. De la Cruz said this was not the position Uruguay expected after its first two games and admitted the team had lacked the edge needed to finish the job.

The draw carried extra weight because Uruguay had already opened with a 1-1 result against Saudi Arabia, then twice failed to protect control against a Cabo Verde side that refused to break. Uruguay fell behind, recovered to lead, and still could not close the match out. For a favored team in a group stage expected to be managed, the pattern is harder to ignore than the scoreline itself: the problem is not only taking chances, but keeping composure when a match turns messy.

De la Cruz was direct about that failure. “Faltó meterla,” he said, a blunt assessment that points to finishing, but the wider picture suggests more than a simple finishing issue. Uruguay created enough to avoid this scenario, yet Cabo Verde’s block and discipline repeatedly slowed the Celeste and forced Bielsa’s team into a game of patience it did not fully solve.

That matters because the next opponent is Spain, and the margin for error is already thin. De la Cruz said the squad now has to be self-critical, correct mistakes, work and keep its head down before facing a Spain side loaded with individual quality. In a group that has already produced two frustrating draws for teams expected to impose themselves, the Uruguay-Spain meeting has taken on clear knockout-like significance for qualification hopes.

Spain’s own opening match against Cabo Verde underlined how difficult this group can be to control. Luis de la Fuente started Gavi and left Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams on the bench, but Spain still finished with a scoreless draw after dominating possession and generating chances without finding a goal. Cabo Verde’s approach, with a low block and a focus on the interior passing lanes, helped blunt that pressure, while Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who was without a club after leaving Chaves, stood out in the opening game.

Uruguay now faces a sharper test than the one it just failed to pass. If the Celeste cannot sharpen its finishing and manage pressure better, the Spain match could turn from a chance to recover into the game that defines its tournament.