Uruguay FC’s flight from Cancún to Miami was held up for several hours on Sunday, forcing organizers to commission a replacement plane and leaving the squad due to arrive roughly 24 hours before Monday’s 6pm ET World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia.
The Uruguayan Football Association said the delay was beyond its control and that “the squad is resting at the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4.15pm.” Officials confirmed a second aircraft was brought in to take the delegation to South Florida after the original flight was not authorised to enter the United States.
That revised timing cuts the team’s on-site preparation window short. Uruguay had a training session in Cancún on Sunday morning; instead of landing two full days before the match, the side will have roughly a day to recover from travel, settle into the Miami base and finalise tactics for the tournament opener.
The delay opened an immediate public dispute over responsibility. The AUF blamed FIFA for the travel problems, with an AUF spokesperson saying the delays were FIFA’s fault. FIFA rejected that account and said, “Due to an airline permitting error in Mexico, the Uruguay national team’s departure from Cancun to Miami was delayed.” FIFA added that “the airline has apologised for the inconvenience caused” and that it “remained in close contact with the Uruguay national team throughout their delay and worked alongside airport and operational partners to help expedite the process and minimise disruption to the team’s travel arrangements.”
The friction cuts to the heart of an unanswered operational question: who or what precisely failed in Mexico’s permitting process — the carrier, a ground handler, local authorities or an administrative oversight — and which party ultimately bears responsibility for a delay that landed on the eve of Uruguay’s first match.
Practical details shifted with the disruption. Organisers set the revised departure for 4.15pm local time; officials say the replacement flight was commissioned after the original aircraft was not authorised to enter the United States. Members of the squad and delegation remained at their Cancún hotel while the papers and logistics were sorted.
The late arrival also pushed back Uruguay’s scheduled media engagements. Marcelo Bielsa and defender José María Giménez were due to speak to reporters in Miami at 6.45pm local time; that press conference did not take place until 8pm. During the session, Bielsa used a phrase that has reverberated on social media — “a plague of liars” — underscoring the irritation inside the camp at the disruption surrounding their travel and organisation.
For supporters and neutrals tuning in, the immediate consequence is simple and concrete: Uruguay will have less than ideal lead-in time before kickoff on Monday at 6pm ET. For tournament organisers and the teams involved, the more consequential question remains unresolved — which element of the airline permitting chain in Mexico failed, and which institution should answer for a delay that compressed a national team’s World Cup build-up?
Uruguay now shifts focus to the match itself. The team is scheduled to play Saudi Arabia in Miami on Monday at 6pm ET; whether the shortened preparation window affects selection, fitness or early-match sharpness will be visible only on the field. The single outstanding operational question — the specific permitting error and who is responsible for it — looms as the most important follow-up the authorities on both sides must clarify.
