Uruguay is getting ready to sealing its place on the 2026 World Cup. La Celeste faces Peru on the legendary Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, realizing that only one level can be sufficient to substantiate their passage to North America. For Peru, in the meantime, it’s a final roll of the cube. Sitting in ninth place, their probabilities of even reaching the inter-confederation playoffs are hanging by a thread. However the headlines forward of this conflict have been dominated by one urgent query: why is Darwin Nunez not enjoying for Uruguay in such an important match?
Beneath Marcelo Bielsa, Uruguay has mixed youthful vitality with tactical precision, making it probably the most harmful sides in South America. A win over Peru would all however assure their ticket to the World Cup, marking what can be La Celeste’s fifth consecutive look on the finals.
Followers are optimistic that even with out one in all their brightest stars, Uruguay can have sufficient firepower to beat a struggling Peru. But the absence of Nunez, Al-Hilal’s dynamic striker, has left many supporters puzzled.
Darwin Nunez’s absence defined
The reply lies not in techniques or accidents, however in controversy. Nunez, together with a number of Uruguay teammates, was handed a suspension by CONMEBOL following an notorious incident on the 2024 Copa America. After a bitter 1-0 semifinal defeat to Colombia in Charlotte, North Carolina, chaos erupted within the stands of Financial institution of America Stadium.
Nunez, Ronald Araujo, Jose Maria Gimenez, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Mathias Olivera have been all concerned in violent clashes with Colombian followers. The gamers later claimed they have been defending their households from aggression within the stands, however South America’s soccer governing physique dominated in any other case.
“The panel discovered that on this case, the precept of self-defence doesn’t apply and that the conduct of the gamers constituted a voluntary, violent and unjustified motion,” the Court docket of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) stated in its ruling earlier this yr.
Ban upheld by CAS
Regardless of appeals from each the Uruguayan Soccer Federation and the gamers themselves, the suspensions have been upheld by CAS in Could 2025. This implies Nunez should serve a five-match ban, forcing him to take a seat out the ultimate stretch of World Cup qualifiers.
Consequently, the striker missed video games in opposition to Paraguay and Venezuela in June, and now he can even be absent in opposition to Peru. His suspension is anticipated to finish simply in time for the ultimate match of the qualifying marketing campaign – an away showdown in opposition to Chile on September 13.
