Leaving behind his disappointing scoring form at Liverpool, Darwin Nunez continues to affirm his position as the number 1 striker of the Uruguay team at the moment. The 24-year-old striker just scored his first hat-trιck at the international level when he helped Uruguay win 4-0 against Mexico in a friendly match to prepare for the 2024 Copa America.

Darwin Nunez scored his first hat-trιck at international level to help Uruguay win 4-0 against Mexico.

The match began with relentless pressure from Uruguay. Only in the 7th minute did the South American team dominate when Nunez scored after a pass from Nahitan Nandez. Although Mexican midfielder Roberto “Piojo” Alvarado threatened with an effort that went over the bar in the 13th minute, Uruguay continued to turn up the pressure. In the 26th minute, Uruguay scored a second goal after Brian Rodriguez passed the ball to Facundo Pellistri to score from close range.

Mexico then conceded a third goal late in the first half, when from another dangerous counter-аttаck, Nunez connected with Maximiliano Araujo before receiving the ball back and scoring. Still Uruguay dominated after halftime. In the 49th minute, Nunez completed his first hat-trιck for the national team after a pass from Pellistri on the right wing. Nunez shared: “I am really satisfied with my individual performance, and especially with this result because the whole team worked very well. For us, it’s not a friendly match, we came here with the mentality of wanting to play a good match and wanting to win.”

Darwin Nunez confirmed his position as the number 1 striker after Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez parted ways.

This is Nunez’s first match with the national team this year, and he is simply continuing what he did so well at the end of last year, proving that he is ready to replace legendary strikers. has retreated into the background like Edinson Cavani, or soon Luis Suarez. The Liverpool striker scored five goals in six World Cup 2026 qualifying matches last year – including scoring and assisting in a 2-0 win over Brazil, as well as scoring in a 2-0 win over Argentina. Making Luis Suarez also exclaim: “I saw one of the best number 9s in the world ahead.”

Nunez’s excellence is the reason why Uruguay is ranked only behind world champion Argentina in the 2025 World Cup qualifying rankings for South America. Of course, the expectations for him lie ahead at Copa America 2024, as the team’s highest-class striker. According to the schedule, this friendly match is Uruguay’s last and they will start preparing for Copa America 2024, where they are in Group C with not too strong opponents such as hosts America, Panama and Bolivia.