Valverde vows to stay after Uruguay's World Cup exit

Valverde: "I won't leave without putting this team at the top"

Fede Valverde is not walking away. Two weeks after Uruguay crashed out of the 2026 World Cup in the group stage with two points, the captain made his intentions clear: "No me iré sin dejarla en lo más alto," he said (1). He will not leave the national team without putting it at the top.

The message lands in the middle of a storm. Bielsa returned to Montevideo alone. Reports of a fractured dressing room keep surfacing. Ugarte is facing months out with a knee ligament rupture from the Spain defeat. Yet Valverde is doubling down.

He also spoke about Luis Suárez (1). The details matter less than the gesture, the captain standing by the old guard while everything else looks broken.

Ghana still remembers 2010

Sixteen years on, and the handball still stings. Suárez on the goal line against Ghana in the 2010 quarterfinal, volleyball-style, red card, and then Gyan hit the bar from the spot. Uruguay went through on penalties (2).

A French outlet ran the story again this week, calling it one of the most infamous moments in World Cup history. Ghana have still never forgiven it. You probably never will either, and that is the point, it is the kind of moment that defines a football nation.