Los Teros came into the second leg with a 38-29 lead from the first leg in Vancouver last weekend and so went into the game as favourites.

Canada, however, ignored the script and raced into an 8-0 lead after just 12 minutes thanks to a penalty from Brock Staller and a try from DTH van der Merwe.

The Canadians then increased this lead to 15-0 thanks to another try and conversion, meaning they wiped out the deficit from the first leg.

Uruguay finally sprung to life in the 34th minute with a try and two penalties to make it 18-10 to Canada at half-time.

They then took this momentum into the second half and scored within two minutes of the restart through Juan Manuel Cat before fellow centre Andres Vilaseca Hontou scored another try in the 64th minute to take the match away from Canada.

There was still time, however, for van der Merwe to score a late try for Canada but his side still lost by a 32-31 scoreline on the night and 70-60 on aggregate, meaning Uruguay qualified for the World Cup.

"Congratulations to Uruguay on their Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification," World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said. 

"They can now take their place in Pool D with pride and plan for what promises to be a very special tournament in Japan.

"These America 2 qualifiers were hugely exciting and demonstrate the growing strength of rugby in the Americas.

"While Canada will be disappointed, they will now concentrate on their Americas Rugby Championship campaign and bouncing back stronger for the repechage in November."

Uruguay will join Australia, Wales, Fiji and Georgia in Pool D at next year’s World Cup.

Canada, who have qualified for all eight previous World Cups, do still have a chance to qualify for the 2019 edition but must come through a four-team world qualifier in November against representatives from Europe, Africa and Oceania.

Elsewhere, in the Americas Rugby Championship 2018, the United States beat an Argentina XV by a 17-10 scoreline at the StubHub Center in Carson and Brazil secured their first-ever win against Chile, beating them 16-14 at the Estadio de la Pintana in Santiago.