Luis Suarez: Former Uruguay forward ‘never say never’ to return to FIFA World Cup

Luis Suarez says he would “never say no” to a return to international football if needed by Uruguay at the upcoming World Cup.

Striker, 39, Ceases to make himself available to his country in September 2024 After claiming head coach Marcelo Bielsa “divided the whole team”.

But Uruguay’s all-time leading goalscorer has now opened the door to a return to international football after a 19-month absence.

“I will never say no to the national team if they need me, especially with the World Cup coming up,” Suarez told reporters, as quoted by Spain’s EFE news agency.

“At that time, I stepped aside to make way for the younger generation. I said things I shouldn’t have said. I’ve already apologized to those I needed to apologize to.”

Former Barcelona and Liverpool forward Suarez, who has scored 69 goals in 143 international appearances, has played in four World Cups for Uruguay since 2010.

he Ghana had a goal blocked Handballed in the quarter-finals of his first tournament in South Africa and banned for four months Biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini Four years later in Brazil.

Now at Major Soccer League team Inter Miami, Suarez says he still feels the desire to compete.

“You realize you still have some life left in you. You get the urge to keep competing,” he adds.

“You can see it on the pitch when you’re still angry about losses and 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 June 11 to July 19.

Uruguay, who finished fourth in South American qualification, open their campaign against Saudi Arabia in Miami on June 15 and face Cape Verde and Spain in Group H.

It will be the third World Cup for former Leeds coach Bielsa, the 70-year-old having led his native Argentina in 2002 and Chile in 2010.