Colombia’s forward Luis Diaz (L) celebrates with teammate midfielder James Rodriguez after scoring … [+]
It’s round nine of South American FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying which means we are about to pass the half way point of this enthralling campaign. This week second place Colombia travel to Bolivia as they look to close a two-point gap on World champions Argentina.
Bolivia have moved to all new altitudes at home, and have won back-to-back qualifiers, so this will be a massive test for a Colombia side who visit a stadium that a foreign team is yet to conquer. Having said that, Colombia are the only unbeaten team so far this campaign and won’t be planning on losing that fantastic record on this trip. A low scoring draw may well be on the cards.
Venezuela drew 0-0 at home to Uruguay in their last qualifier, albeit against a depleted Uruguay XI. Now they host the group leaders Argentina in what they will consider a free hit at the recently crowned continental champions.
Lionel Messi is likely to feature after a return to fitness and form in the MLS with Inter Miami, but there will be no Emiliano Martinez in this Argentina squad as he sits this camp out with a two-match ban. The visitors should have too much for Venezuela, but if they are caught sleeping they can expect to drop points.
Lionel Messi looks on during a training session at Florida Blue Training Center on October 08, 2024 … [+]
Ecuador and Paraguay are two teams that both won their last games and are both fighting for automatic qualification spots against the more typical South American giants.
However both teams know what is at stake, and both teams have been involved in some notoriously low scoring encounters so far this qualifying season. At this cagey stage of the league it is likely that both teams will want to avoid defeat above everything else. Ecuador play at home and have more quality in their side, if they want to win this game then they can.
Both of these sides hit an all-time low in the last round of fixtures. Chile managed to lose at home to Bolivia, something that literally hasn’t happened for years, whilst Brazil lost to their humble neighbours Paraguay. It’s fair to say that both of these nations are in crisis and need a win.
Despite losing four of their last five in qualifying, Brazil have kept showing the odd spark of obvious quality that they have within their squad. Chile, on the other hand, have managed just four goals in eight games, winning just one of those. This seems like another day of woe ahead for Chile, and a fine opportunity for Brazil to turn their fortunes around, although we have said that a few times already in the last year.
Peru host an Uruguay team led by Marcelo Bielsa that are still hit by multiple player suspensions. That much was obvious during the September international break when they drew 0-0 in both of their fixtures, falling to third in the league table. Having said that, they are still in a great position to qualify for the World Cup, four points above fourth place.
Peru are rock bottom in the table. They have no wins from eight, have scored just two goals whilst conceding ten, and might well be one of the worst sides in the nations history. It really is dark times for La Bicolor who haven’t won since a friendly defeat over El Salvador.
Uruguay’s Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa gestures during a press conference in Montevideo on … [+]
