Group A contenders:
South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Route to the finals
Once again, Uruguay left it late to secure their berth at the World Cup finals.

For the third campaign in succession La Celeste finished the South American qualifying zone in fifth place, forcing a play-off with the fourth placed team in the CONCACAF zone, Costa Rica.

For much of the campaign it looked like Uruguay might sneak one of the top four automatic qualifying spots, but in a winner-takes-all final group game with Argentina, in Montevideo, it was Maradona’s men who secured the last spot.

The play-off with Costa Rica ensued and having faced disappointment against Australia in the 2005 play-off and missing out on Germany 2006, the Uruguayans were keen not to taste defeat again.

A 1-0 win in San Jose proved the perfect start was followed up by a 1-1 draw in Montevideo and a guaranteed place in their 14th World Cup finals.

Manager
Oscar Washington Tabarez is currently enjoying his second spell at the helm of the Uruguay national team. Twenty years on from his last tenure, when he took La Celeste to the Round of 16 at Italia ’90, Tabaraz is ready to take another stab at World Cup glory.

Now 62, he has seen action at Boca Juniors, AC Milan and Cagliari, bringing with him a wealth of experience that he will hope to put to good use in South Africa.

Player watch
The name that will stand out for English fans within the Uruguay squad is that of Diego Forlan.

The Atletico Madrid forward spent two indifferent seasons at Manchester United in the early noughties, making 63 appearances and scoring ten goals.

But after leaving Old Trafford in 2004, he moved to Spain’s Villarreal where his form was rejuvenated with 54 goals in 106 appearances.

That form has continued since his move to Madrid in 2007 and he was instrumental in helping them lift the Europa League Cup – scoring the winning goal in the Final. 

Competition History
First appearance: 1930
No. of appearances (inc 2010): 11
Best result: Winners (1930 and 1950)
Matches against England: 10

Squad

Goalkeepers
1	Fernando Muslera	Lazio, ITA
12	Juan Castillo	Cali, COL
23	Martín Silva	Defensor, URU
Defenders
2	Diego Lugano	Fenerbahçe, TUR
3	Diego Godín	Villarreal CF, ESP
4	Jorge Fucile	FC Porto, POR
6	Mauricio Victorino	Universidad de Chile, CHI
11	Álvaro Pereira	FC Porto, POR
19	Andrés Scotti	Colo Colo, CHI
22	Martín Cáceres	Juventus, ITA
Midfielders
5	Wálter Gargano	Napoli, ITA
8	Sebastián Eguren	AIK, SWE
14	Nicolás Lodeiro	Ajax, NED
15	Diego Pérez	AS Monaco, FRA
16	Maximiliano Pereira	Benfica, POR
17	Egidio Arévalo	Peñarol, URU
18	Ignacio González	Levadiakos, GRE
20	Álvaro Fernández	Universidad de Chile, CHI
Forwards
7	Edinson Cavani	Palermo, ITA
9	Luis Suarez	Ajax, NED
10	Diego Forlán	Atlético Madrid, ESP
13	Sebastián Abreu	Botafogo, BRA
21	Sebastián Fernández	Banfield, ARG