Man Utd ace Manuel Ugarte stretchered off and fights back tears after colliding with team-mate in freak World Cup injury
MANUEL UGARTE fought back tears as he was stretchered off after a freak injury. The Manchester United man started for Uruguay in their must-win clash against Spain in Group H. However, he collided into his team-mate as they both went to make a challenge just before half-time and stayed down. Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur and Mathias Olivera all tried to tackle Spain star Pedri. But as Pedri got the pass away, Ugarte accidentally clattered into Olivera and his studs seemed to get stuck in the turf. The midfielder seemed to be struggling with a knee injury after the unfortunate clash. READ MORE ON THE WORLD CUP He needed treatment on the field and he could not get himself up to walk off – let alone continue. Ugarte even appeared to wipe away tears as he was carried down the tunnel with his face buried under his shirt. To make matters worse, Uruguay wanted the ball to be put out of play when Ugarte was down. Instead, Spain played on and took the lead through Alex Baena after a calamitous mistake from Fernando Muslera. Most read in Football WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS World Cup 2026 - all the info LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! This year’s World Cup is like no other as a record-breaking 48 nations compete to lift football’s biggest prize. England manager Thomas Tuchel is hoping to finally bring football home after a 60-year drought. But footballing legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have other plans in what will likely be their final World Cup appearance. SunSport have got everything you need for the huge tournament LATEST NEWS - EXCL: Rice fit to start against Panama after help from special socks - Furious Clarke storms out of interview after Scotland’s loss to Brazil - Tomas Soucek carried off after horror injury KEY INFO - World Cup 2026 full match schedule including kick-off times - World Cup 2026 full squads - World Cup 2026 rule changes - World Cup 2026 prize money VIDEO - Proper Football Daily: Get all the expert analysis each morning - Team Talk – Tactics Exposed: Dive into the tactical talking points TIPS AND BETTING If you click a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue. Marcos Llorente’s low cross found Baena. The Atletico Madrid midfielder controlled and got his shot away. It was a tame effort and well within Muslera’s range. The veteran 40-year-old got two hands to the ball but somehow let it bounce in to gift Spain the lead. Muslera was sensationally dropped at half-time in a brutal response to his nightmare blunder which saw Uruguay dumped out of the World Cup. But the Baena goal proved to be the only goal of the game as it finished 1-0. That ensured Spain finished top but Uruguay were eliminated in third on just two points. Agustin Canobbio saw red in injury time with a wild lunge.