Luis Suarez had not been part of Uruguay‘s World Cup plans until now, currently 39 years old and winding down his career at Inter Miami. But the veteran striker could yet find himself facing Lamine Yamal‘s Spain after leaving the door open to a surprise return to the Celeste.
Suarez brought his international career to a close in September 2024, playing the full 90 minutes in Uruguay‘s CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier against Paraguay before stepping away. Since then, he has been absent for the Celeste’s last 17 matches, including the remaining qualifying fixtures and the most recent round of friendly games.
In an interview with Uruguayan outlet Diario Ovación, Suarez opened up about what retirement from the national team has felt like: “I’ll be honest with you… It’s a reality that since I retired from the national team… The flame of football has been slowly dying out for me. You maintain the desire, that passion for football through goals, through dreams, and you always dreamed of being in the national team.“
The striker then shed some light on the thinking behind his decision, while also hinting at second thoughts. “I retired from the national team to pave the way for other players and because I thought a time had come when I could no longer be useful to the national team.” But he stopped short of closing the door entirely. “Obviously, the national team is always what you want. Today you start thinking and turning things over in your head, and you are close to the World Cup, and if they need you, what do you do?” he added.
Luis Suarez acknowledges the fans on his last match as a player of the Uruguay national team.
One of the biggest obstacles standing between Suarez and a potential comeback is not his form in front of goal, but his strained relationship with head coach Marcelo Bielsa. Just a month after announcing his international retirement, Suárez publicly took aim at the Argentine manager, claiming that “Bielsa has separated the entire group, even through his way of training.“
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Despite that friction, Suárez made his loyalty to Uruguay crystal clear, with the final squad list expected to be submitted in May. “I will never say no to my country; I will absolutely never say no to my country. If they need me, I will never say no to the national team. That is impossible, as long as I keep playing, as long as I remain competitive,” he concluded.
Suarez and Yamal could clash for the first time
Although Suarez was one of Barcelona’s most lethal strikers during his time at the club, he and Lamine Yamal never shared a pitch in the first team. Suarez left Barcelona in 2020 and Atletico Madrid in 2022, while Yamal made his debut in April 2023, by which point the Uruguayan had already returned to South America.
The 2026 World Cup, however, could bring together the past, present and future of FC Barcelona on the same field. Uruguay and Spain have been drawn together in Group H and are set to meet on Friday, June 26, at Estadio Akron, in what figures to be a pivotal match in the group standings, one where both Yamal and a potentially returning Suárez could prove to be the difference-makers.
