Credit: Imago and Tigo Sports Honduras

Daniel Lewis

Fri 27 March 2026 17:10, UK

Leeds United striker Joel Piroe saw his woes at club level carry over onto the international stage with Suriname.

Piroe has struggled for minutes since firing Leeds to Premier League promotion last season, leading to strong links with a move away from Elland Road in the summer.

The former Swansea City ace remained in place, but his fortunes have not improved in any way as he continues to mainly watch on from the substitutes’ bench.

After being called up to the Suriname squad, Piroe had a chance to show exactly what he is capable of in Thursday night’s World Cup qualifying playoff against Bolivia.

But the exit-linked Leeds forward was instead guilty of a dreadful miss as his World Cup dreams came crashing down.

Joel Piroe’s Suriname debut ends in disappointment

Piroe was called up to the Suriname squad after seemingly accepting that his chances of a Netherlands call were slim-to-none.

The 26-year-old was named in the starting line-up to face Bolivia in Monterrey and played the full 90 minutes on his debut.

Piroe was certainly heavily involved at the Estadio BBVA, as he touched the ball 32 times and completed 16 passes up top.

However, his most notable impact was a rather dreadful miss with the scoreline level at 0-0 half an hour in.

Piroe was picked out towards the back post, but he failed to find the target from eight yards and was left visibly shocked.

Indeed, as can be seen by Tigo Sports Honduras’ coverage of the match below, even the commentator seemingly found it quite funny.

Piroe may have fluffed his lines, but Liam van Gelderen did manage to give Suriname the lead shortly into the second half, only for Bolivia to turn it around in the final 20 minutes to win 2-1.

What next for Piroe at Leeds after latest disappointment?

Piroe was touted as a target for the likes of Rangers and Celtic in the winter window, while Birmingham City and others were also mentioned.

Talk of an Elland Road exit, assuming Leeds stay in the Premier League, will only ramp up over the coming weeks as the summer window approaches.

Piroe will have just one year to run on his contract in West Yorkshire come the end of the campaign, so it makes perfect sense to cash in now.

Piroe has been a brilliant servant for Leeds, not least in top-scoring on the Whites’ way back to the big time last season.

But it is clear he has no part to play under Daniel Farke, and it is simply not fair on a player who is clearly very talented to just waste away on the substitutes’ bench.