Uruguay’s Agustin Canobbio given red card for nasty tackle as frustrating World Cup comes to an end originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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It’s much more difficult for high-level teams to get “grouped” and miss the knockout stage in the expanded World Cup, and the frustration of being one of the 16 teams to fall short was palpable for Uruguay on Friday night.
A 1-0 loss to Spain ended Uruguay’s World Cup, which came and went without a win. After draws against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, Uruguay still could have salvaged its tournament with a win on Friday. Instead, a lifeless loss knocked the world’s 19th-ranked team out.
As the final minutes ticked away, frustration got the better of Agustin Canobbio, who saw his World Cup end a few minutes earlier than his teammates on a red card.
Here’s a look at Canobbio’s nasty tackle against Spain and his reaction.
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Agustin Canobbio red card
Canobbio was shown a red card immediately after a slide tackle near the end of Friday’s loss to Spain. Here’s the sequence:
Agustín Canobbio is shown a red and things escalate in Guadalajara between Spain and Uruguay players pic.twitter.com/UZdJLsd4zn
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 27, 2026
The red card came just minutes after frustrations started to boil over for Uruguay, with the two teams jawing and Uruguay’s Nicolas de la Cruz earning a yellow card.
Canobbio was furious after the call and had to be held back by teammates on the sideline as Uruguay continued to bicker with the referee:
Agustín Canobbio reacts on the sideline after his red card at the end of the match pic.twitter.com/SyKJRzXuEF
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 27, 2026
Uruguay could have won Group H with a win over Spain and at least had a chance to advance with a draw, but a team that entered the World Cup with expectations of at least finishing second in the group mustered only six shots against Spain and had possession for less than a third of Friday’s game.
Canobbio might not have believed his slide tackle warranted a red card, but the frustration from him and his teammates likely had more to do with the circumstances of a shocking exit.
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