Table of positions for the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, date 3 – International Football – Sports

Venezuela shook the South American qualifier this Thursday by equalizing Brazil 1-1 away from home, while its archrival Argentina, with Messi entered from the bench, defeated Paraguay 1-0 in Buenos Aires and was the sole leader with a score perfect at the end of the third date.

In another high-voltage eliminatory duel, Chile took over the ‘Pacific Classic’ at home against an unremarkable Peru by 2-0, and earlier Uruguay, applying the dizzying style of Marcelo Bielsa, won a valuable 2-2 against Colombia in the hell of Barranquilla.

Ecuador once again defeated Bolivia at the height of La Paz (3,600 meters above sea level) 2-1 with a goal from the youth Kendry Paez, who at 16 years old became the youngest player to score a goal in the history of the South American qualifiers .

Venezuela’s setback in Brazil

A great goal from a bicycle kick by Venezuelan striker Eduard Bello, with five minutes remaining, silenced the Arena Pantanal stadium in Cuiabá. One of the great surprises of this tie had just materialized between a team that had always qualified for a World Cup, Brazil, and another that had never done so, Venezuela.

Despite having all their artillery on the field, led by Vinicius, Neymar and Rodrygo, the seleçao gave up a 1-1 draw against one of the weakest teams in South America, which obsessively seeks to stop being the only country in the region that has never played a maximum date.

When defender Gabriel opened the scoring in the 50th minute it seemed that everything was going to continue as normal, with Brazil overwhelming its opponent, but Vinotinto resisted, was patient and took a historic result.

The team led by Argentine Fernando Batista receives Chile on the fourth date, in which Brazil must go to the Centenario stadium to play a regional classic with Bielsa’s Uruguay.

Argentina remains undefeated and unstoppable

The least expected, central defender Nicolás Otamendi, scored the winning goal very early, in the 3rd minute, but the world champion, with confidence through the roof, also played at a high level although he could not increase the score.

On one of the several occasions for the Albiceleste, Messi, who came on in the 53rd minute, was on the verge of achieving something unprecedented in his record: an Olympic goal, although the ball hit the horizontal to the delirium of the 83,000 people present at the Monumental. .

And two minutes before the end he hit a free kick into the Paraguayan upright. But Lionel Scaloni’s team once again showed that there is no panic if his great figure does not play in the starting eleven or does not directly integrate into the squad as happened last night against Bolivia 3-0.

“When a team is assembled and confident, everything is easier,” said a satisfied Scaloni.

And La Albirroja can dream of a better future after the correct match they played in the debut of Argentine Daniel Garnero as Guarani coach. The Albiceleste will close this window against Peru in Lima on Tuesday, while Paraguay will host the weak Bolivia in Ciudad del Este.

Kendry Páez, the record teenager

The bottom of the table faced each other on this third date. Ecuador added a vital 2-1 victory to overcome the three-point discount that the TAS applied due to the improper inclusion of Byron Castillo in the last tie.

Ecuador enjoyed it twice: it defeated Bolivia 2-1 in the final at the height of La Paz (3,600 meters above sea level) in a day in which its midfielder Kendry Paéz, aged 16 years and 161 days, became the youngest player to score in a Conmebol World Cup qualifier. It was in the 45th minute when he opened the way for El Tri’s victory.

On the other hand, Bolivia (without points) only reaps disappointment and, despite the fact that the qualifying round is very extensive, it is already emerging as one of the teams that could be left out of the 2026 World Cup.

In the doldrums several years ago, Chile won a reassuring victory against an inert Peru in the Pacific Classic, in Santiago. The victory gives respite to La Roja, in the midst of the transition from its successful golden generation, but it is still very far from feeling close to competing with authority for a ticket to the World Cup in North America.

Like Chile, Peru still has time to make a leap in quality, although there is no sign of a quick change of course. Argentina leads the World Cup with an ideal score of 9 units, two more than Brazil, while Colombia has five, followed by Uruguay, Chile and Venezuela with one less, Ecuador accumulates three, Peru and Paraguay one each and Bolivia closes without units.

South America has six direct places for the 2026 World Cup, while the seventh will play a playoff against a team from another continent.

Playoff standings

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