Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Luis Suarez has publicly criticised Marcelo Bielsa, who has coached Uruguay since May 2023
Luis Suarez has stated he “would never say no” to returning to international football if Uruguay needs him for the upcoming World Cup.
The 39-year-old striker stopped making himself available for his country in September 2024 after claiming head coach Marcelo Bielsa had “divided the whole group.” But Uruguay’s all-time leading goalscorer has now left the door open for a return following a 19-month absence from international duty.
“I would never say no to the national team if they need me, especially with a World Cup coming up,” Suarez told reporters, as quoted by Spain’s EFE news agency. “At the time, I stepped aside to make way for the younger generation. I said something I shouldn’t have said. I have already apologised to those I needed to apologise to.”
The former Barcelona and Liverpool forward, who has scored 69 international goals in 143 appearances, has played in four World Cups for Uruguay since 2010. He famously stopped a Ghana goal with a handball in the quarterfinal of his first tournament in South Africa and was banned for four months after biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in Brazil four years later.
Now with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, Suarez said he still feels the desire to compete. “You realise you still have a little bit of life left in you. You get the urge to keep competing,” he added. “You can see it on the pitch when you still get angry about the losses and the bad passes, and you still enjoy it when you score goals.”
The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, runs from 11 June to 19 July. Uruguay, who advanced as the fourth-placed team in South American qualifying, will start their campaign against Saudi Arabia in Miami on 15 June, and also face Cape Verde and Spain in Group H. This will be the third World Cup for former Leeds coach Bielsa, who previously led his native Argentina in 2002 and Chile in 2010.
