Uruguay is famously known as being the side to host and win the first world cup in 1930. They repeated their success twenty years later by defeating fellow South American counterparts, Brazil in the final. They have also in total won the South American championships a staggering 14 times. In the first world cup final, they defeated Argentina 4-2 in the final in front of a crowd of 93,000. In 1950 in Brazil, they surprised the local support when they defeated a much fancied Brazilian side 2-1 to become world champions for a second time. Uruguay won gold in the 1924 Olympic Games as they defeated Switzerland 3-0 in the final. Uruguay repeated that success four years later as they beat Argentina 2-1 in the final to win the elusive gold medal once again.
Uruguay’s most successful domestic club is Penarol. In 1982 they became the first team to win the world club cup on three occasions, beating English team, Aston Villa 2-0 in the final.
They have boasted stars over the years, such as Hector Scarone, who in total scored 29 goals during his career playing for Uruguay between 1917 – 1930. Another legend is Rodolfo Rodriguez, as he was capped a total of 78 times for the national side between 1976- 1986.