Chilean National Anthem is mistakenly played for Uruguay in the Copa America

The Copa America Centenario has gotten off to a rocky start both in terms of gameplay and in the presentation of the tournament. Only three goals have been scored in four games and unless the game features the United States or Mexico, stadiums at best are half full.

Now you can add one more thing to the list of things that haven’t gone right at the Copa America as the staff in Glendale, Arizona played the wrong national anthem before the start of the Mexico vs. Uruguay game.

The Mexican National Anthem went off without a hitch but when it came time for the Uruguayan National Anthem, they got something a bit different.

The Mexican National Anthem went off without a hitch but when it came time for the Uruguayan National Anthem, they got something a bit different.

The players seemed a bit confused and they should have because that was the Chilean National Anthem and not Uruguay’s. A couple players tried to power through and sang the words to their anthem with the Chilean Anthem playing. The mess up prompted a cascade of boos from the Uruguayan fans, and rightly so, for playing the wrong national anthem.

For reference, this is what the Uruguayan National Anthem sounds like:

The two songs don’t even sound the same so there must have been some mix up in the audio department at University of Phoenix Stadium. Maybe that psyched Uruguay out because Alvaro Pereira conceded an own goal in just the fourth minute to give Mexico an early 1-0 lead.

If there’s a silver lining, if they had to screw up one anthem, they chose the one that wasn’t Mexico. Because considering this is pretty much a Mexico home game, that would not have gone well if the Mexican National Anthem was replaced with the United States.

UPDATE: Copa America organizers issued an apology to Uruguay for a “human error” that resulted in playing the wrong anthem.

A statement from Copa America Centenario LOC… pic.twitter.com/9R1QBUZHwd

— Copa América 2016 (@CA2016) June 6, 2016