Darwin Núñez


Darwin Gabriel Núñez Rivera is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club UD Almería and the Uruguay national team.

Club career

Peñarol

Núñez was born in Artigas, Núñez joined Peñarol's youth setup in 2013, aged 14. His first stay lasted only months, but he subsequently rejoined the club in 2014, and finished his formation.
Núñez spent the first months of 2017 nursing a knee injury. He made his first team – and Primera División – debut on 22 November 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in a 2–1 away loss against River Plate Montevideo, but had another knee surgery the following month.
Núñez scored his first professional goal on 13 October 2018, netting the opener in a 2–0 home defeat of Fénix. On 14 July 2019, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 routing of Boston River.

Almería

On 29 August 2019, Spanish Segunda División side UD Almería announced the signing of Núñez on a five-year deal, for a rumoured fee of US$ 4.5 million plus U$$ 1.5 million in variables. He made his debut for Andalusian side on 3 October 2019, coming on as a 46th minute substitute for Lucien Owona in 4–2 league defeat against Sporting de Gijón.
On 27 October 2019, Núñez scored first goal for his new club in a 3–2 league win against Extremadura UD.

International career

Núñez is a former Uruguay youth international and was part of under-20 team squad which finished third in 2019 South American U-20 Championship and reached pre-quarters of 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He was also part of under-22 team squad which finished fourth at 2019 Pan American Games.
His performance with youth teams earned him a call-up to senior team for friendlies against Costa Rica and the United States in September 2019. He made his international debut following month on 16 October in a 1–1 draw against Peru. He replaced Brian Lozano on 75th minute of the game and scored his team's only goal five minutes later.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 October 2019Estadio Nacional del Perú, Lima, Peru1–11–1Friendly