“If the national team needs me, I’ll never say no,” the striker legend said, leaving the door open for a World Cup return

A rejection of any overtures from national team manager Marcelo Bielsa would sound different. Suárez retired from the national team in September 2024, having once again captained Uruguay onto the pitch in a 0–0 World Cup qualifier against Paraguay.

Suárez spent years among the world’s elite centre-forwards. Between 2011 and 2014 he scored 82 goals in 133 appearances for Liverpool before moving to Barcelona for a fee of just under €82 million. In six seasons (283 appearances) he netted 195 goals, helped the club lift the Champions League in 2015, and formed a feared front three with Lionel Messi and Neymar.

Further spells followed at Atlético Madrid, his Uruguayan youth club Nacional and Grêmio Porto Alegre in Brazil before Suárez moved to Miami in early 2024 to reunite with Messi. Although he is no longer a guaranteed starter and is increasingly being rested, his goalscoring remains impressive. Despite his reduced role, Suárez’s goal-scoring instincts remain sharp: in 91 appearances for Miami he has tallied 43 goals and provided 29 assists.

Suárez’s contract in Miami expires at the end of the year, and his long-term playing future remains undecided. Reflecting on a possible national-team comeback, the veteran said: “You think about it, you run through the scenario – especially as a World Cup approaches. If they might need you, what do you do?”

Darwin Núñez, the former Liverpool forward handpicked to inherit Uruguay’s No.9 shirt, is in a similar position. The 26-year-old will arrive at the World Cup with limited match sharpness, having not played in the Saudi Pro League for Al-Hilal since early February. Consequently, rumours of a swift European return are already circulating. Nunez’s most recent outing for Al-Hilal came in mid-February in the AFC Champions League, and he has not found the net in his last 13 international appearances.

In March friendlies against England (1-1) and Algeria (0-0), coach Bielsa preferred Rodrigo Aguirre (Tigres) and Federico Vinas (Real Oviedo) in attack, with Nunez used only as a substitute. With just two months until the World Cup, Uruguay lacks another centre-forward who clearly stands out, making a potential Suarez comeback a genuinely plausible option.

Suárez’s most recent major highlight for Uruguay came at the 2024 Copa América, where the side finished third. The veteran forward, deployed in four mostly substitute appearances, still managed to find the net once.

In total, Suárez has 69 goals in 143 caps. He netted three times at the 2010 World Cup, where Uruguay finished fourth, and helped the side win the 2011 Copa América.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Suárez started two of Uruguay’s three group games but could not avert an early exit. For the upcoming tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Los Charruas—now led by Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde—are drawn with Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde and Spain. Reaching the knockout phase is the South Americans’ minimum target.