Uruguay win third place Copa America playoff on penalties, Luis Suarez is the hero

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Of course it had to be Luis Suarez.

The 37-year-old Inter Miami striker, one of the most divisive and controversial players in football, came on as a stoppage-time substitute to level the score for Uruguay and force a chaotic match to penalties.

Ismael Kone, who had scored a brilliant innovative goal earlier in the evening, and Alphonso Davies, the star of the Canadian team, both failed to convert their penalties to give Uruguay the victory.

Rodrigo Bentancur had put Uruguay ahead with a sharp angle and Kone equalised for Canada with… well, we’re not sure what it was. A standing bicycle kick with one foot on the ground, perhaps? Whatever it was, it was ambitious and daring — and we like it that way.

Facundo Pellistri had his first-half goal disallowed after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, but then Jonathan David came off the bench to score for Canada in the 80th minute. His team looked set for a $1 million windfall (the team that finishes third in the Copa America receives $5 million, and the fourth $4 million), but Suarez had other ideas.

Add to that the comments from two former Leeds United coaches before the match – Marcelo Bielsa said the tournament was “unprofessional” and Jesse Marsch claimed his team were being treated like “second-class citizens” – and this was bound to be a lively encounter.

In the end, it was Uruguay and Bielsa who emerged as winners.

Pablo Maurer, Joshua Kloke and Jack Lang analyze the big topics of conversation…

Come in, Luis Suarez…

What a treat it was to watch Uruguayan legend Luis Suarez in his final Copa America match. He scored his 69th international goal on Saturday night and did it in the most dramatic way imaginable, equalizing for Uruguay deep into injury time. Moments later he perfectly slotted a penalty to send Uruguay to victory.

It was a bit of redemption for Suarez. Despite the player’s insistence that he had no qualms about playing just a few minutes in Uruguay’s first five games, many in the Uruguayan press had openly criticized Bielsa for not including him further. On Saturday, El Loco did just that, bringing him on at half-time. The Inter Miami striker did not disappoint.


(Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

“I enjoy every moment immensely,” Suarez told Uruguayan media earlier in the tournament. “It’s something that at my age, as you get older, you enjoy more and more, whether you play a lot or a little, because you know that the flame of football is going out.”

In a narrow, irregular field in Charlotte, North Carolina, we watched that flame grow fainter and fainter. But for a moment it burned brightly.

Pablo Maurer

What does this mean for Canada?

For starters, a third-place finish that brings in $5 million instead of $4 million hurts Canada. Yes, it’s money that few would have expected when the Copa America kicked off just over three weeks ago. But the organization needs the money!

Canada has every reason to be confident, maintaining high levels of self-belief after a remarkable Copa America run that few saw coming. This is a team that was out of the picture after the World Cup and through 2023, only qualifying for the Copa America via a thrilling one-game play-off.


David equalized for Canada (Omar Vega/Getty Images)

One of the most striking positives from the result was the play of Jonathan David as a substitute. David’s finishing has been criticised in the tournament, but his second goal for Canada against Uruguay was a reminder of how cool he can be in front of goal.

Still, a wrenching penalty shootout loss to Uruguay should be a long-term lesson for Canada. At their best, they were able to decide games and produce tough results. That they let a late-game lead slip should be a reminder of how tough it is to hold their own against the world’s best. Marsh and Canada will no doubt be looking to improve their late-game defense. The result itself shouldn’t cloud their Copa America record or the strides the program has made as a whole, but it should highlight the gulf between teams like Venezuela and Uruguay. It’s a gulf that Canada hopes to better understand in 2026.

Joshua Kloke

Kone’s… upright bike?

How do you describe Kone’s goal? It was a bicycle kick, a hooked volley and a lob all at once, but it was neither.

Kone

An upright bike? That covers it, but it still doesn’t quite capture the incredible ingenuity and athleticism that Kone displayed. In that situation, most players would probably have tried a header, which wouldn’t have worked. Kone came up with something completely new and had the hamstrings to pull it off.

This is what third place competitions are all about. Sure, there’s some extra prize money to be won, but no one Real it doesn’t matter who wins. They are, at their best, a reminder that football is an end in itself. No pressure, no worries. And Kone’s moment of levitation was the ultimate piece of wasted genius — even if his penalty in the shootout left a lot to be desired.

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GO DEEPER

Canada’s Jesse Marsch sees signs of a champion in Ismael Kone

Jack Lang

Did Uruguay have a point to prove?

Uruguay’s players have been through hell and high water in recent days. There was the team’s crushing loss to Colombia in the semifinals, and then there was everything that happened afterward — a handful of Uruguayan players entered the stands at Bank of America Stadium and clashed with spectators.

After all the fuss, tournament organizers CONMEBOL launched an investigation into the incident, with some media outlets in South America reporting that as many as 10 Uruguayan players could face some form of disciplinary action. Uruguayan head coach Marcelo Bielsa then used his pre-match press conference as an opportunity to criticize CONMEBOL for what he called safety shortcomings, the state of the pitches, and a host of other issues.


Bielsa gets close to the pitch he has little time for (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Uruguay has had its share of criticism, in terms of style. Bielsa’s teams have always been energetic, hard-hitting teams and this current Uruguayan team is no exception. Their quarter-final against Brazil was the dirtiest game of the tournament and Bielsa has been widely criticized for his team’s style of play. Canada has also been accused of dirty play at times, something Marsch dreaded before Saturday’s game.

There is no doubt that Bielsa — and the entire Uruguay squad — went into tonight’s match with a lot to play for, beyond the prize money and the tournament table. And with their gutsy performances — an injury-time equalizer and a couple of well-taken penalties — they deserved a little bit of redemption.

Pablo Maurer

Why were there so many empty chairs?

The presence of Canada and Uruguay in this match was likely a disappointment to tournament organizers — neither side is a major draw in the United States. The crowd at Bank of America Stadium felt almost comically small at times, with vast swaths of empty seats in both the lower and upper tiers, and one entire side of the upper deck completely empty. It’s also perhaps worth noting that the European Championship does not feature a third-place play-off.


There were many empty chairs (Getty Images)

CONMEBOL has said that The attendance figures for this tournament are on track to equal that of the Copa America Centenario in 2016, which was also played in the United States. Ticket prices for both group stage and elimination matches have soared into the hundreds, and on the secondary market they can reach four figures. There have been other problems: poor marketing has led to disappointing crowds in vast NFL stadiums, and stifling heat has caused problems at some games.

That was not the case on Saturday, a relatively beautiful evening in Charlotte.

Some see this tournament as a test for the 2026 World Cup. It remains to be seen what lessons the organisers of that tournament will learn from it, if any at all.

Pablo Maurer

Did Canada’s change of position work?

From the moment Marsch was hired, he was clear that he had one big goal in mind: for Canada to compete in the 2026 World Cup on home soil.

Every decision made is with the World Cup in mind, and perhaps the most prominent example of that approach was evident in the lineup Marsch rolled out for the third-place match. Canada’s new head coach made a big change, with four players making their first Copa America starts.

The 13 (or so) players Marsch has favoured for 2026 are well established, but his second core of players has yet to emerge. By keeping Alphonso Davies, David and Stephen Eustaquio on the bench against Uruguay and instead starting the likes of Tani Oluwaseyi, Mathieu Choiniere, Ali Ahmed and most importantly 18-year-old centre-back Luc De Fougerolles, Marsch has given younger players the chance to play valuable minutes in a must-win tournament match. It’s a long-term bet that those minutes will pay off in 2026, with De Fougerolles, for example, becoming more accustomed to playing against tough opponents like Uruguay in two years’ time. That Marsch was able to make this decision suggests the organisation is fully behind his plans for 2026.

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GO DEEPER

USMNT, Canada and Mexico: How the 2026 World Cup hosts fared at the Copa America

Apart from some nervous moments from De Fougerolles, Canada’s new starters showed themselves well. Add it all up and Marsch’s decision looks smart again.

Joshua Kloke

What did Marsh say?

Canada’s coach after the game: “The players are disappointed with the way we gave the game away. But I was very positive about them. We’ve been together for six weeks. And to go into this game, put some new players on the pitch, play against one of the best teams in the world for me and completely dominate the game, create big chances, we were too much for them for most of the game.”

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(Top photo: Getty Images)

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