MADRID, 13 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Argentina and Brazil remain at the top of the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup after adding their second victories this Tuesday, with the current world champion overcoming their always complicated visit to Bolivia more easily than expected (0-3) and despite not having Leo Messi, and the ‘Canarinha’ suffering a lot to get the three points away to Peru.
The ‘Albiceleste’ spent 15 years without being able to win at the altitude of La Paz and can now celebrate that they have done so in the last two under the command of Lionel Scaloni, who maintains the good spirits of his team at the start of the classification to defend the title in three years.
And he also did it without the help of his ’10’, who was not feeling “well” as confirmed by his coach and who witnessed from the bench the good performance of his teammates, who had fewer problems than expected and who already dominated at half-time. 0-2 with the goals in the final stretch of the first half from Enzo Fernández, after half an hour, and Nicolás Tagliafico, on the stroke of half-time.
Furthermore, between both goals, the locals lost Roberto Fernández due to expulsion, which made it even more difficult to worry the three-time world champion, who sealed their victory in the final minutes of the second half through Nicolás González.
Along with Argentina, the Brazilian team has only been able to add two victories in these first two days, although in the case of the five-time world champion, it was close to not doing so in Lima where Peru held on until falling 0-1 at the time. added.
Brazil completely dominated the match, but was not very good in the offensive tasks and generated very little, with Neymar being the one who was closest to the goal. In the end, when it seemed that the locals would take a valuable point, Marquinhos appeared at the near post to head in a corner kick and give his team the victory.
With four points, Colombia was in third place, which could not go beyond a goalless draw in its visit to Chile, which earned its first point in these South American Qualifiers, while Uruguay fell (2-1) away to Ecuador.
The two-time world champion took the lead in the 38th minute through Agustín Canobbio, but the ‘Tri’ held on to the success of Félix Torres, who equalized before the break and gave the victory with two goals from set pieces. The Ecuadorians, who also wasted a penalty at 1-1, debuted their victory against Marcelo Bielsa’s team, who complained about a penalty not awarded in the final minutes.
Finally, Venezuela broke a streak of four consecutive defeats in the South American Qualifiers by winning 1-0, with a penalty goal from Salomón Rondón in the 93rd minute, against a Paraguay that once again demonstrated that it is going through serious offensive problems.