Darwin Núñez
#9 · Forward · age 26
Lead striker post-Suárez/Cavani era.
88
WC26 rating
- Recent form
- 52
- Career peak
- 100
- League level
- 75
- Competition pedigree
- 98
- International pedigree
- 89
- Longevity
- 70
Independent rating — league strength (Opta-anchored) × competition tier × position-normalized output. Not affiliated with EA or FIFA.
Career by season
Source: transfermarkt + sofascore · fetched 2026-05-29
Bielsa’s preferred striker profile has always been the runner who stretches the defensive line and presses from the front — Núñez is that profile in nearly its purest form. He will spend 90 minutes sprinting in behind Cubarsí and Laporte; he will frustrate Uruguay fans with finishing variance; and he will, at least once in this tournament, score the kind of opportunist goal that lower-strike-rate strikers don’t get to score.
His Al-Hilal teammate Nahitan Nández is in the same Uruguay squad and the same Saudi Pro League dressing room — a useful piece of continuity for Bielsa’s training-ground intensity demands.
Strengths
- straight-line running in behind
- pressing intensity from the front
- left-footed finishing on the inside cut
- aerial threat at 6'2''
Recent form
Adjusting to the Saudi Pro League through 2025-26 — minutes are abundant, scrutiny lower than Liverpool, with goal contributions higher per 90.
His Liverpool debut featured a goal, an assist, and a red card — a single match that contained essentially the entire range of his Liverpool career to come.