Alexis Mac Allister starred as Argentina recorded a victory without Lionel Messi, while Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson all suffered defeat with their respective nations
Darwin Nunez, Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Diaz were all in action on Tuesday night as Liverpool’s South American contingent concluded their international commitments before heading back to Merseyside.
Nunez was handed his second consecutive start for Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay as they suffered a defeat to Ecuador in their second qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup finals. The 23-year-old, who provided two assists in the Celeste’s 3-1 victory over Chile on Saturday, played just 45 minutes before he was replaced by Cristian Olivera with the game evenly poised at 1-1.
However, Ecuador, naming Liverpool summer transfer target Moises Caicedo and former Everton forward Enner Valencia in their starting XI, sealed a come-from-behind triumph in the 61st minute when Felix Torres scored a second for Felix Sánchez Bas’ side.
Speaking after the match to explain the Nunez substitution, manager Bielsa said: “Darwin arrived with some muscle problems and it limited his game. I thought it was necessary to replace him because he was overworked after the last match.” It is a potential worry for Liverpool, with Premier League action returning early on Saturday.
Elsewhere in South America, the fortunes of Mac Allister and Alisson were of stark contrast to those of Nunez, with both Argentina and Brazil maintaining their unbeaten starts to World Cup qualification with victories over Bolivia and Peru respectively.
Mac Allister played 85 minutes in the brutal climate of La Paz, the world’s highest-standing capital city, alongside Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo de Paul in midfield, with Lionel Scaloni’s side without Lionel Messi. Appearing in a deeper-lying role just like he has done at Anfield at times this season, the 24-year-old completed the most passes of anyone in the match (59) and won 62% of his ground duels.
Goals from Fernandez, Nicolas Tagliafico and Nicolas Gonzalez saw the World champions overcome their South American counterparts, who played the majority of the game with 10 men after VAR intervened to send Roberto Fernandez off six minutes before half time.
Alisson, meanwhile, was an unused substitute for the second game running for Brazil as Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos fired a 90th-minute winner against Peru. And in a 0-0 draw with Chile, Diaz played 71 minutes.
Moving away from South America, Mohamed Salah’s only appearance for Egypt this week ended in a 3-1 friendly defeat against Tunisia, with the Liverpool forward completing the full 90 minutes. Earlier on Tuesday, Wataru Endo enjoyed a second-half cameo as Japan defeated Turkey while Andy Robertson captained Scotland to a 3-1 defeat at Hampden Park against England.
Liverpool’s stars will now head back to Merseyside where they will reconvene at the AXA Training Centre ahead of Saturday’s 12.30pm kick off at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
