Sport in Uruguay

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A football supporter at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Boxing in Uruguay. 2008 World Championship.
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Sport in

Olympic medals
, Uruguay has been a constantly successful sports nation in continental and world aspects.

Football

Main article: Football in Uruguay
See also: Uruguay national football team

Football (Spanish: fútbol) is the most popular sport in Uruguay. Uruguay has won an Olympic gold medal in 1924, and another one in 1928, which were considered the most important tournaments in football, before the FIFA World Cup began in 1930, hence the four stars on the Uruguayan jersey. The first World Cup, which Uruguay won,[1] was held in 1930 in Montevideo. The Estadio Centenario was built for the World Cup, and serves to this day as the country's main football stadium.

Uruguay also won the World Cup in

Estádio do Maracanã. The event has had astounding impacts on the history of the sport, due to Brazil being a heavily favoured team at that time, and is also known as the Maracanazo
.

Uruguay produces well known football players such as

Sebastian "El Loco" Abreu, became an iconic figure in Uruguay, after chipping a goal during the penalty shootout, against Ghana during the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals
.

Basketball

Uruguay national basketball team was placed 6th in the first Olympic Games (Berlin in 1936), 5th in London in 1948, 3rd in Helsinki in 1952, 3rd in Melbourne in 1956, 8th in Rome in 1960, and 8th in Tokyo in 1964. After this successful run, the team did not qualify as finalists in any Olympic tournament, until the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, in which they earned 6th place. Uruguay has also won 12 South American championships, and participated in many Pan-American and World Championships. Uruguay was the host for the 1967 FIBA World Championship. And took part in a co-bid for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup with Argentina but lost out to Philippines, Japan and Indonesia
.

The Liga Uruguaya (Uruguay's top league) attracts many players from

NBA. He played seventy games over two seasons for the Atlanta Hawks.[2]

Rugby union

Main article: Rugby union in Uruguay
See also: Uruguay at the Rugby World Cup

With a history dating back to the 1940s, rugby union is a popular recreational sport in Uruguay. The tragic crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, and the resulting books and films, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors and Alive, brought Uruguayan rugby into the global limelight.

Rugby union is considered the third most popular sport in Uruguay after Football and Basketball.

The popularity of rugby increased significantly, after the national side qualified for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, and the subsequent 2003 Rugby World Cup, this saw a renewed interest in the sport and broad media coverage of the game. Uruguay secured a historic victory over a much more fancied Fiji at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, winning 30-27. This was followed by a string of strong performances against more favoured opposition.

The

Unión de Rugby del Uruguay, and are the second highest ranked team in South America, after Argentina, at 17th[3]
in the world.

Uruguayan rugby players such as Pablo Lemoine and Rodrigo Capó Ortega have enjoyed success in the professional European leagues.

Motorsport

Four Uruguayan drivers competed in

Penske Racing
, where he finished 12th in his debut, but was killed in a crash during practice for his second race.

Uruguay has been a major force in South American

1993 World Rally Championship season, with a best result of fourth in the Rally Argentina
. The Rally del Atlántico, held in the Maldonado department, is regularly included in the South American Rally Championship.

The two major purpose-built circuits are El Pinar and Mercedes, whereas several cities have hosted street races, including

Formula Three Sudamericana, and also international karting and motorcycling events. Conversely, Uruguayan drivers have raced in Argentina, most recently Juan Cáceres and José Pedro Passadore
.

Currently, Uruguay has national championships for road course racing (both automobiles and motorcycles),

karting
. NASCAR has offered a check to Uruguay so they can race the US in the Indy 500

Beach volleyball

Uruguay featured a men's national team in beach volleyball that competed at the 2018–2020 CSV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.[4]

Tennis

Tennis is a mildly popular sport in Uruguay, although Uruguayan players have not been as successful as the Argentinian and Brazilian ones.

Uruguay Fed Cup team competes in Group I as well. Pablo Cuevas is currently the second highest-ranked Uruguayan male player.[5]

Athletics

The Uruguayan Athletics Confederation is the organizing body for track and field competitions. The main venue is the Pista de Atletismo Darwin Piñeyrúa in Montevideo, named after hammer thrower Darwin Piñeyrúa. The main annual international event is the Grand Prix Darwin Piñeyrúa and Estrella Puente.[6]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ World Soccer Archived 2005-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Esteban Batista Stats".
  3. ^ "Men's Rankings | World Rugby".
  4. FIVB
    . 22 June 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  5. ^ ATPtennis.com - AThi Rankings[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Redacción. "Grand Prix Estrella Puente y Darwin Piñeyrúa: la fiesta del atletismo". El Observador. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
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