Luis Suarez Becomes 1st Uruguayan to Reach 40 International Goals

With the first of his two goals in Uruguay's 2-1 win over England in the World Cup group stage on Thursday, Luis Suarez became the first Uruguayan to reach 40 international goals, per ESPN FC.

Suarez was already the all-time leader in goals scored for his country, and he now sits at 41, including five in his seven World Cup appearances.

He was a popular pre-tournament pick to win the Golden Boot award, but he missed Uruguay's opening match against Costa Rica due to a knee injury. Suarez had surgery on his meniscus back in May, and manager Oscar Tabarez did not feel that the superstar striker was up to match fitness. It was a costly decision, as Uruguay fell to Costa Rica 3-1, after taking a 1-0 lead into the half.

However, Suarez was in the starting XI against England and showed that even at less than 100 percent, he can be a dominant performer. He opened the scoring on a brilliant header in the 39th minute and then scored the match-winner in the 85th, only 10 minutes after Wayne Rooney netted the equalizer for England.

The Liverpool striker has been a prolific scorer over the last year, as he tied the English Premier League 38-game single-season scoring record held by Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo. Shearer set the 31-goal mark for Blackburn Rovers in the 1995-96 season, while Ronaldo matched it during the 2007-08 campaign with Manchester United.

Suarez's 31 goals were 10 more than the EPL's second-place finisher, teammate Daniel Sturridge.

In addition, Suarez also finished second in the Premier League in assists this season with 12, trailing only teammate Steven Gerrard.