Darwin Núñez scored in his seventh straight international match, and Uruguay routed Bolivia 5-0 on Thursday night to move to verge of a quarterfinal berth in the Copa América.
Facundo Pellistri put the Uruguayans ahead in the eighth minute and Núñez doubled the lead in the 21st with his 10th goal in his last seven games for Uruguay and 13th in 25 matches overall.
Maximiliano Araújo scored his second goal of the tournament in the 77th, and Federico Valverde (81st) and Rodrigo Bentancur (89th) added goals as Uruguay romped through a ragged Bolivian defense.
Uruguay, seeking its record 16th Copa América title, has a 2-0-0 W-D-L record with six points and a plus-seven goal difference and would advance with at least a draw on Monday against the U.S. at Kansas City, Missouri — or perhaps even a loss. The U.S. has three points and plus-one goal difference and Panama three points and minus-one difference. Panama upset the United States 2-1 earlier Thursday with the U.S. playing most of the match with 10 men following an early red card to Tim Weah.
Bolivia has lost 14 consecutive Copa América matches dating to 2015 and has one win in its last 32. With no points and a minus-seven goal difference, it has almost no chance of advancing going into Monday’s match against Panama at Orlando, Florida. Bolivia is likely to be eliminated in the group stage for fourth straight time.
MetLife Stadium’s upper deck was nearly empty and the site of the 2026 World Cup final appeared to be half full. Two days ago, Lionel Messi and Argentina drew a sellout crowd of 81,106 for a 1-0 win over Chile.
Bolivia made six changes from its opening 2-0 loss to the U.S. and Uruguay quickly went ahead.
Nicolás de la Cruz played a long free kick down a flank and Ronald Araújo outjumped Luis Haquin to center a header. Mathías Olivera couldn’t reach it and the ball bounced before Pellistri nodded it in for his second international goal.
Núñez, who took seven shots in the first half, scored off a perfect weighed pass from Maximiliano Araújo on a quick counterattack. Araújo got his goal after Bolivia turned over the ball in midfield, fed by de la Cruz.
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Reporting by The Associated Press.
Uruguay
Darwin Nunez
Federico Valverde
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