Luis Suarez rescued Uruguay with an injury-time equalizer before the South Americans defeated Canada 4-3 in a penalty shootout to win the Copa America's third place playoff match on Saturday.

Uruguay seemed destined for a surprise defeat after Canada took a 2-1 lead in the 80th minute, thanks to a goal by Jonathan David at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium. However, Suarez, a former Barcelona and Liverpool star who came on as a second-half substitute, scored in the second minute of injury time from a Jose Gimenez assist to make it 2-2 and send the game to penalties.

In the shootout, Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet saved a spot-kick from Canada midfielder Ismael Kone, and Alphonso Davies missed an attempted panenka, hitting the crossbar and bouncing out, sealing Uruguay's victory.

The result marked a disappointing end to the tournament for Canada, who had been on course for a notable and deserved victory before Suarez's late goal. Uruguay had a dream start with Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur firing them into the lead after just eight minutes. Sebastian Caceres set up Bentancur, who turned and fired a shot into the roof of the net.

Uruguay almost doubled their lead shortly afterward when a counter-attack left Canada’s defense scrambling, only for Maximiliano Araujo’s shot to be blocked by Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair. This miss proved costly as moments later, Kone equalized for Canada with a deft finish on 22 minutes after Moise Bombito's header from Jacob Shaffelburg's corner.

Uruguay thought they had taken the lead again in the 23rd minute when Facundo Pellistri found the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside in the build-up. Canada missed golden opportunities to score just before half-time, with Tani Oluwaseyi heading wide and Jonathan Osorio seeing his effort cleared off the line.

A series of substitutions led to a disjointed second half, and the game seemed to be heading for a draw until Kone's ferocious shot was parried by Rochet, allowing David to score and make it 2-1. However, instead of defending their lead, Canada continued to press forward and were punished when Uruguay got behind their defense to set up Suarez's equalizer.