4 min readMar 27, 2026 06:00 PM IST
With England and Uruguay set to meet in a friendly on Friday night, it marks a rare occasion when these two former world champions face each other in the beautiful game. The last time these two teams had met was back in 2014 when Uruguay had virtually knocked the Three Lions out of the FIFA World Cup. After that meeting, the two teams have played 2 more World Cups but haven’t crossed paths in 2018 or 2022. They haven’t even faced each other in international friendlies in over 12 years leading to Friday’s encounter being one of those matches that haven’t been run into the ground in a football era chock full of big clashes.
The teams have played each other 11 times in history with England winning 3 and Uruguay winning 5 while 3 matches were draws. One important point to note here is that England haven’t ever beaten their South American counterparts in any competitive matches, losing to them in 2014 World Cup and the 1954 World Cup while drawing in the 1966 edition. All three England wins against Uruguay have come in friendlies.
What happened the last time they met?
The two teams met each other in a high voltage Group D encounter in the 2014 World Cup and after the dust settled, only one name was etched in the minds of the fans– Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan striker was coming off an iconic season with Liverpool where he won the EPL golden boot, scoring 31 goals in 33 matches. This led to him signing for Barcelona in July which eventually saw the formation of the iconic MSN trio (Messi-Suarez-Neymar) who would help Barcelona win the treble in the 2014-15 season.
Coming back to the England encounter, a lucky break in midfield sent the ball out wide to Edinson Cavani and Suarez escaped the attentions of Phil Jagielka to nod back across Joe Hart for a 1-0 lead. Suarez, who had been well policed by England’s centre backs until that point, wheeled away with a huge smile on his face, kissing his wrists and gesturing frantically in delight.
England gradually regained the initiative with Wayne Rooney as fullback Glen Johnson worked his way into the box after delightful work by Daniel Sturridge, and his square ball was rammed home by the Manchester United striker at the far post, sending the massed ranks of England fans behind the goal into a frenzy.
England were in the ascendancy but when Gerrard failed to deal with Uruguay keeper Fernando Muslera’s punt Suarez was away, outpacing Gary Cahill and slamming the ball past Hart.
“I have been thinking about this, it was something I dreamed about happening quite a lot. I’m enjoying this moment, because of all I suffered, the criticism I received. So there you go,” Suarez told reporters after the match.
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“Before the game too many people in England laughed about my attitude over the last few years,” he said. “This is a very good time for me. I want to see what they think now. “It was one of the best games I’ve played. It’s an amazing moment for me. Maybe a few days ago I thought this wouldn’t be possible.”
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