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Photo by Heuler Andrey/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

In a physically demanding encounter played at the daunting altitude of El Alto, Uruguay and Darwin Nunez battled to a 0-0 draw against Bolivia in their CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

The result keeps Uruguay firmly in the qualification spots while having the unexpected consequence of securing Argentina’s place at the 2026 World Cup.

Playing at the Estadio Municipal de El Alto, located over 4,000 meters above sea level, the Uruguayan squad faced the notorious altitude challenge that has historically troubled visiting teams.

The statistics tell a compelling story of Bolivia’s dominance—maintaining 66% possession and registering an impressive 32 shots throughout the match.

Despite these advantages, they couldn’t find a way past Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, who made several crucial saves to preserve the scoreless draw.

Uruguay’s coach Marcelo Bielsa acknowledged the difficulties his team faced in the post-match press conference.

“The opponent played better than us, dominated the match more than us, and created more goal-scoring situations,” Bielsa remarked.

Darwin Nunez, who had struggled during Uruguay’s 1-0 defeat against Argentina last week, began the match on the bench.

Bielsa’s decision to withhold his most experienced attacking player from the starting lineup could possibly be a response to Núñez’s recent form issues.

Nunez’s introduction in the second half alongside Federico Valverde was aimed at injecting fresh energy into the Uruguayan attack.

However, despite his presence, Uruguay continued to find themselves largely on the defensive, with Bolivian goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra standing firm against the limited threats posed by the visitors.

The striker’s performance mirrored his recent club form for Liverpool, where he has scored just five goals in 29 appearances since November.

And it seems that Uruguayan media largely agreed with this line of thinking.

Uruguayan outlet El Pais gave him a 5/10 and wrote:

“Good action with his back to the goal in front of him and managed a powerful shot; The attempt went very high.

He was not easy to define.”

Uruguay will now focus on their upcoming fixtures in June, when they face Paraguay and host Venezuela3. These matches present crucial opportunities to solidify their qualification hopes as the campaign enters its final stages.

Speaking to local outlets last week, Nunez publicly admitted his confidence issues:

“I know I’m not performing as well as I should; it’s difficult because when you’re doing well, like when I came on against PSG, your confidence changes, with the idea of ??being able to break it in the next match.