How to darken a background using CSS?

Just add this code to your image css

 body{
 background:
        /* top, transparent black, faked with gradient */ 
        linear-gradient(
          rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7), 
          rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7)
        ),
        /* bottom, image */
        url(https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1614030424754-24d0eebd46b2);
    }

Reference: linear-gradient() - CSS | MDN

UPDATE: Not all browsers support RGBa, so you should have a 'fallback color'. This color will be most likely be solid (fully opaque) ex:background:rgb(96, 96, 96). Refer to this blog for RGBa browser support.

Setting background-blend-mode to darken would be the most direct and shortest way to achieve the purpose however you must set a background-color first for the blend mode to work.
This is also the best way if you need to manipulate the values in javascript later on.

background: rgba(0, 0, 0, .65) url('http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/274/6/f/ocean__sky__stars__and_you_by_muddymelly-d4bg1ub.png');
background-blend-mode: darken;

Can I use for background-blend