The 2026 World Cup is already generating conversations in the football world. One of them focuses on the Uruguayan national team. Reports indicated that the Uruguayan national team, nicknamed "Los Charruas," would have to remove two stars from their crest, but this has been denied by Ignacio Alonso, president of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF). FIFA has introduced new criteria regarding the embroidery of stars on national team crests. Each star represents a FIFA World Cup title. Uruguay has four, and a rumor circulated on social media that they had been notified they would have to omit two of them. This would be due to the "invalidity" of Uruguay's two Olympic titles. The South Americans won the Olympic gold medal in 1924 and 1928. These two victories would not be considered official World Cup titles. The star count would begin in 1930. In this sense, Uruguay would only have two stars thanks to its victories in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups. This is not a new topic of discussion. Since 2021, the AUF (Uruguayan Football Association) had received a notification to remove these two stars from the uniform. However, the "Celeste" (Uruguay's national team) went to the World Cup with its four stars. "No. That happened in 2022, when Puma, the technical sponsor, received some questioning. But the AUF worked quickly and the four stars were immediately confirmed," Alonso explained. Uruguay will keep its stars. The AUF president detailed that there was a change from FIFA regarding the stars. Federations cannot mix World Cup achievements between categories. This was the only distinction the executive was reportedly notified of.

“Yes, there was a change in FIFA's criteria regarding each jersey having the stars that correspond to that sector. For example, the Uruguay jersey doesn't have stars in women's football or futsal,” he explained.

In this sense,Ignacio Alonso reaffirmed that the Uruguayan national team will continue to use its four stars on its crest. The achievements obtained in the Olympic Games were ratified by the organizing body, and the "Charruas" will continue to proudly display their accomplishments from that decade. "The two Olympic tournaments of 1924 and 1928 were organized by FIFA, and that is absolutely recognized. Uruguay has the four stars. Undisputedly," he concluded.