Luis Suarez's warning to Guardiola over Darwin Nunez's high level of performance

With a solid performance, Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay defeated Bolivia 3-0 on Tuesday at the Estadio Centenario to record their third consecutive win in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.  The match began, as expected, with Uruguay taking the initiative, controlling possession and positioning themselves in the opposition half, betting on mobility, triangulation and overlapping to drive the Bolivian backline crazy. The first clear chance came at 9' with a header by Ronald Araújo from a corner kick, but the ball went just wide of the post defended by Viscarra.

A minute later, a series of touches culminated in a low cross from Darwin Núñez across the box that Olivera almost connected with down the middle, and in the 13th minute it was Valverde who headed wide after a cross into the middle from Viña. At 15', Darwin Núñez opened the scoring with a first-time finish after a great assist from Facundo Pellistri to make it 1-0 and put the game to bed, which was clearly under Uruguayan domination.

With the game and the result in their favour, Uruguay continued to dominate the ball and the field, moving the ball around to find the active attackers who were falling all over the place. Valverde, De la Cruz, Olivera, Pellistri and Núñez were unstoppable for the team from the Altiplano who could not find answers. In the 39th minute it was 2-0 after another corner kick in which Viscarra fisted the ball off Gabriel Villamil's back and into the Bolivian goal. Uruguay continued to dominate, continued to create chances, and as the minutes ticked by, Bielsa took the opportunity to move the team. The most expected entry was that of Luis Suarez, who came on at 73' and came close to scoring with a shot in the box that went over the crossbar. Uruguay won 3-0 and won for the third time in a row in the qualifiers, thus reaffirming their great present on the road to the 2026 World Cup.

Darwin is the best in the world

After the game, Luis Suarez spoke in an interview and issued a warning to Pep Guardiola ahead of Saturday's Liverpool v Manchester City game: "If he's not the best nine in the world, he's one of the best nine in the world. How can I not understand that I have to wait? I try to support him as much as I can, he's a very young lad".