Why are Uruguay facing travel difficulties at the 2026 World Cup?

Uruguay and Marcelo Bielsa are dealing with travel difficulties, and it affected their outcome on the pitch last night at the 2026 World Cup. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Uruguay's 2026 World Cup opening game didn't go as planned, for a national team with one of the greatest footballing minds in modern history at the helm.

Marcelo Bielsa led his Uruguyan troops into battle against Saudi Arabia yesterday evening, stuttering en-route to a 1-1 draw.

And for the many issues displayed on the pitch at the World Cup this summer by Uruguay, more have occurred off the pitch – but why did the national team face such a travel nightmare?

Uruguay travel issues at the 2026 World Cup explained

Marcelo Bielsa has been in charge of Uruguay since 2023 — Marcelo Bielsa might not agree, but the Uruguay captain believes that their off the pitch issues caused difficulties and complications (Image credit: Getty Images)

Bielsa's men were the dominant force on the night against Saudi Arabia, recording nearly three times the xG of their opposition.

Off the pitch, something highly aggravating at best and genuinely result-altering at worst had occurred during Uruguay's travels.

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The national side were left stranded in Mexico just 24 hours before their opening World Cup match, after the craft was unable to depart.

To begin with, their initial flight was cancelled, followed by the delay of a second flight which compounded issues, causing them to be roughly two hours behind schedule so near to their opener.

The reason behind this incident was cited as being due to missing or incorrect paperwork, which has led to a blame game between all involved parties.

While the Uruguayan FA blamed FIFA directly, they, in turn, blamed an airline permitting error in Mexico for the disruption.

And a disruption it truly was – despite Bielsa disagreeing that it had an effect – with national team captain Jose Maria Giminez describing the ordeal as "difficult" and full of "complications."

Iranians wave Iran&rsquo;s national flags during a rally to show their solidarity and support to the new Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojataba. (Photo by AFP) / — Iran are arguably the most affected nation at this tournament by off the pitch issues, and Mehdi Taremi opened up about those extreme difficulties last night. (Image credit: Getty Images)

This is now beginning to feel like an ever-growing trend at the 2026 World Cup, with travel and visa issues becoming a recurring issue.

Last night, Iran forward Mehdi Taremi described his national team's ongoing travel situation as a "disaster" and expressed how his side are constantly tired due to their situation.

Earlier this month, Somali referee Omar Artan was denied entry to the US, prompting FIFA to still pay his World Cup salary despite being unable to work at the event.

As teams and individuals continue to face such problems off the pitch, the strength of the game on the pitch falters.

For now, Uruguay will rest ahead of their next match in Group H against Cape Verde, and pray that more external difficulties don't come their way.

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Kedar Bayley is a trained journalist specialising in culture reporting. As a fan of Liverpool FC, he writes on the Reds often. Knowledgable about all things sports, cinema and television, you can find his words in Screen International, FourFourTwo, Manchester Evening News and more.