Argentine Bielsa new coach of the Uruguay national team

The Uruguayan Football Federation announced the contract with Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa to oversee the first team until the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Jorge Casalez, a member of the Uruguayan federation's executive committee, told AFP: "We have reached an agreement. All points of the drafting of the contract have been resolved and only the signature remains," he said, without giving any details.

Bielsa, 67, became the second non-domestic coach to take over Uruguay, winners of the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, after compatriot Daniel Passarella between 1999 and 2001. It is Bielsa's third experience coaching South American teams after his country (1998-2004) and Chile (2007-2011). The position of coach has remained vacant since the end of Diego Alonso's contract at the end of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Alonso took over from veteran Oscar Tabares midway through those qualifiers.

Bielsa will play his first match at the head of the technical staff of the Uruguayan national team through two friendly matches next June, in which the identity of the rival has not yet been determined before starting next September, the journey in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 finals by relying on players such as Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Ronald Araujo (Barcelona) and Darwin Nuñez (Liverpool).