Uruguay's charter flight cancelled after World Cup exit

Uruguay's disappointing FIFA World Cup campaign ended with another setback after the team's charter flight home was cancelled, forcing players to return to the country on separate commercial flights, 24NewsHD TV reported on Sunday.

According to media reports, the Uruguayan Football Association cancelled the charter flight that had been arranged to take the squad from its base camp in Mexico back to the capital, Montevideo.

As a result, the players will travel home individually instead of returning together as a team.

Uruguay entered its final Group Stage match against Spain needing a victory to keep its hopes of advancing alive.

However, the South American side had put itself under pressure after drawing its opening two matches against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde.

In the decisive clash in Guadalajara, Spain took the lead in the 42nd minute after capitalising on a goalkeeping error.

Uruguay failed to find an equaliser despite several attempts and suffered a 1-0 defeat, bringing its World Cup campaign to an early end.

The elimination marked a disappointing outcome for Uruguay, a country of around 3.5 million people with one of football's richest traditions.

Despite its proud history and reputation on the international stage, the two-time world champions were unable to progress beyond the group stage in this year's tournament.