Colombia’s midfielder James Rodriguez celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the 2026 FIFA … [+]
The first of five Tuesday evening World Cup qualifiers in South America will see third-place Colombia host now bottom of the table Chile. The early kick-off should see vital points for the hosts after they took home absolutely nothing from the altitude of Bolivia last time out.
Chile, despite being atrocious for the first nine games of this campaign, still have qualification to fight for. At the midway point of the campaign they are only 6 points away from a play-off place, but perhaps their comeback to qualification is unlikely to begin in Barranquilla this week. Instead, they will need an epic November international break when they play fellow strugglers Peru and then host Venezuela.
Had this been qualifying for the last World Cup, only four automatic qualification spots would have meant that Paraguay and Venezuela would be looking pretty unlikely to make the final tournament.
However, currently they are sat in eighth and seventh position respectively, with sixth place granted automatic qualification to the 2026 tournament and a play-off spot still awarded to seventh. Both have a massive opportunity despite winning just two games from nine each, and the result of this encounter will be absolutely crucial.
Since their ugly Copa America exit Uruguay have been stuck in a rut, and now they haven’t won in three qualifying fixtures. Even more worryingly for the sky blues, they haven’t scored in those three fixtures either, and are risking a dramatic tumble down the league table.
Ecuador can join Uruguay on 15 points if they win this fixture, and make the remaining fixtures very uncertain for Bielsa‘s men. Not least considering that they face Colombia and Brazil during the next international break. There is a lot of pressure on the home team to pick up points here, against very dangerous opposition.
Moises Caicedo of Ecuador controls the ball during the South American FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier … [+]
Despite a draw in Venezuela last time out, Lionel Messi and Argentina will expect three points when they return to the Estadio Monumental this Tuesday. They rotated players in the last game and played on a horribly wet surface. They will have no such issues on the carpet that is River Plate’s home pitch.
Bolivia come into this game buoyed by a magical run of three wins on the trot, but the run stops here. They are already in dreamland, and picking up points ahead of schedule. Whilst away from home they are not the same team that they are when playing at home in the altitude. This should be a comfortable win for league leaders Argentina.
Brazil won their last game 2-1 thanks to some incredible Botafogo attackers, now they return to Brasilia to take on a Peru team who have just picked up their first victory of qualifying.
Brazil won the reverse fixture on matchday two with a last minute winner, and a repeat result here will be enough to steady their ship and consolidate their place amongst the top four. Despite Peru’s recent win they don’t have enough to go to Brazil and bring home any points.
Vinicius Junior of Brazil reacts during the South American FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier match … [+]
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