[4] Forging his career in Germany, Guerrero started at giants Bayern Munich, before making his name at Hamburger SV, scoring 47 goals across eight Bundesliga seasons.

His greatest successes came in Brazil, where he scored the winning goal of the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup final for Corinthians.

With 39 goals in 123 matches for Peru since debuting at 20, Guerrero holds the honour of being the highest goalscorer for his national team.

[7] In addition, he was voted the "best centre forward in America" in 2012 and 2017 by the newspaper El País, based on the opinion of some two hundred journalists from the region.

[13] In July 2013, Corinthians won the 2013 Recopa Sudamericana, defeating city rivals São Paulo FC 4–1 on aggregate.

After his ban expired, Guerrero finally made his debut for Inter in the Campeonato Gaúcho against Caxias, on 6 April, scoring in the 2–0 semi-final win.

His career with the senior team began in the unsuccessful 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, but he managed to score twice for the national side.

In the opening game of the 2007 Copa América in Mérida, Venezuela, Guerrero concluded a 3–0 win over Uruguay as Peru went on to reach the quarter-finals.

A further blow to Peru was laid down by FIFA when Guerrero was suspended six games for insulting the referee during the match against Uruguay in June 2008.

[33] Following Peru's disastrous qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, José del Solar was replaced with Uruguayan manager Sergio Markarián and Guerrero was called up for the 2011 Copa América.

Guerrero became the all-time leading goalscorer for Peru on 4 June 2016, after scoring against Haiti in a 1–0 win at the Copa América Centenario.

[37] On 3 November 2017, it was announced that Guerrero had failed the doping control test after the match against Argentina in the previous month for what was initially reported as a social drug.

He received a preemptive 30-day suspension from FIFA, making him miss the World Cup play-off tie against New Zealand, eventually won by Peru.

[41][42] Guerrero's lawyers had argued that the failed test had occurred as a result of the consumption of a traditional coca tea, using forensic analysis of the Children of Llullaillaco as evidence.

[43] However, on 14 May 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the appeal filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, extending the ban to 14 months and ruling him out of the tournament.

[44] Captains of Peru's group-stage competitors, Hugo Lloris (France), Simon Kjaer (Denmark) and Mile Jedinak (Australia) supported Guerrero's appeal and released a letter urging FIFA to lift the ban.

[45] On 31 May 2018, it was announced Guerrero would be allowed to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup after the Swiss Federal Tribunal lifted the ban for the tournament.

[46] On 3 June 2018, Guerrero made his comeback after a seven-month absence from the national team scoring twice in the 3–0 friendly win against Saudi Arabia.

[61] Media reports claim his fear of flying is due to the death of his uncle José González Ganoza in the 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster.

[62] Guerrero's older brother, Julio Rivera, was also a footballer for the Peru national team who progressed through the Alianza Lima youth system.