Copa America 2024: Uruguay clinch bronze medal finish after 4-3 penalty shootout win against Canada

Luis Suarez late heroics sealed Celeste’s fate.

After losing their respective semifinal fixtures, Canada and Uruguay locked horns to secure a bronze medal finish in the third-place match of the Copa America 2024 at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Following their soul-crushing defeat to Colombia in the semifinals, Uruguay kicked off the game on the front foot, applying early pressure on the Canadian defence, who were coping without the star services of their captain Alphonso Davies in the starting lineup. This positive start ultimately proved to be fruitful, as La Celeste took an early 1-0 lead in the 8th minute courtesy of midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who found the back of the net with a strong left-footed finish from the edge of the six-yard box.

However, Jesse Marsch’s Canada upped the ante in the following minutes as they bagged the much-needed equaliser after some great athleticism from midfielder Ismaël Koné, who tapped it in with a reverse kick to bring the score level at 1-1 in the 22nd minute.

Just a minute after Kone equalised, Uruguay’s Facundo Pellistri thought for a split second that he had taken the lead for his side, but the goal was eventually ruled out for offside by the referee.

With both teams on the scoresheet, the exhilarating contest was brewing into a thrilling back-and-forth encounter filled with high-intensity action all over the pitch in order to assert dominance in this fierce affair. The match headed into the break evenly poised at 1-1, with either side hoping to bag the crucial breakthrough goal in the second period.

With two halftime substitutions, Marcelo Bielsa’s side hoped to regain their advantage in what was a physical battle between the two teams. Even Jesse Marsch introduced reinforcements of his own into the game, as captain Alphonso Davies joined the action for the remaining thirty minutes of play.

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The Bayern Munich star almost had an instant impact on the contest as his long-range effort deflected just wide to keep the game level. In the second half, Canada looked like the team with more energy, as they were creating just about all of the recent chances.

Les Rogues’ growing dominance in the match ultimately paid off as they took a 2-1 lead in the 80th minute after Kone’s initial rocket was saved by goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, with the rebound being poked home by a lurking Jonathan David.

With a slender lead in their hand for the dying minutes of the game, Canada were in the hunt for a third rather than retreating into a shell, which eventually proved to be costly as super sub Luis Suarez scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser for Uruguay to draw the match level at 2-2 and take it to penalties.

Heartbreakingly, Canada suffered a 4-3 loss on penalties to Uruguay after Ismaël Koné’s tame spot kick was routinely saved by Sergio Rochet, followed by a shocking penalty miss by Alphonso Davies. With the penalty shootout win, Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay secured a third-place finish in the 2024 Copa America and, in the process, claimed the bronze medal.

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