Without Lionel Messi neither Angel Di Maria, Argentina continues with its winning habit and this Thursday it did so against Chile by 3-0 in the return of the South American Qualifiers for the World Cup 2026in which Bolivia resurrected by beating 4-0 Venezuela in El Alto, 4,150 meters above sea level.
After a ten-month break, since November 2023, the regional qualifiers returned on Thursday with two matches on the seventh round, which will be completed on Friday with three matches.
At the Monumental, the world champions beat Chile 3-0 to remain at the top of the standings with 18 points in seven games played.
Early in the morning, Bolivia regained hope of reaching the World Cup with a 4-0 thrashing of Venezuela at the Municipal Stadium in El Alto, at 4,150 meters above sea level, which was its first World Cup qualifying match.
With this result, the “Verde” climbed to seventh position with six points, one more than Paraguay and Chile, eighth and ninth, respectively, while Venezuela remains in fourth place with nine points.
At the top, Argentina leads with 18 points; followed by Uruguay with 13; Colombia with 12; Venezuela with 9; Ecuador with 8 and Brazil with 7. Peru closes the positions with two units.
The South American qualifiers grant six places for the 2026 World Cup and the seventh the possibility of a play-off against a team from another confederation.
On Friday, at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo, Luis Suarez will say goodbye to Uruguayof which he is the all-time top scorer with 69 goals and which he has defended on 142 occasions, against a Paraguay team in which Gustavo Alfaro will debut as coach.
In the second shift, in San Pablo, a Brazil Desperate, who occupies an unusual sixth place, will receive the tough Ecuador in a match that he must win to start to get back on track.
The seventh date will close in Lima, where the bottom team Peru will be local before Colombiawhich has just lost the Copa América final but is quickly heading towards the World Cup.
South American Qualifiers – Matchday 7
– Thursday:
In El Alto: Bolivia-Venezuela 4-0
In Buenos Aires: Argentina-Chile 3-0
– Friday:
In Montevideo (20.30): Uruguay-Paraguay
In Sao Paulo (22): Brazil-Ecuador
In Lima (22.30): Peru-Colombia
South American Qualifying Positions
– Pts JGEP Gf Gc Dif
1. Argentina 18 7 6 0 1 11 2 9
2. Uruguay 13 6 4 1 1 13 5 8
3. Colombia 12 6 3 3 0 6 3 3
4. Venezuela 9 7 2 3 2 6 7 -1
5. Ecuador 8 6 3 2 1 5 3 2
6. Brazil 7 6 2 1 3 8 7 1
7. Bolivia 6 7 2 0 5 8 14 -6
8. Paraguay 5 6 1 2 3 1 3 -2
9. Chile 5 7 1 2 4 3 10 -7
10. Peru 2 6 0 2 4 1 8 -7
Note: Ecuador started the qualifying round with -3 points as a penalty for the improper inclusion of Byron Castillo in the qualifiers for Qatar-2022.
South American Qualifiers – Matchday 8
In Barranquilla (17.30): Colombia-Argentina
In Santiago (18): Chile-Bolivia
In Quito (18): Ecuador-Peru
In Maturin (19): Venezuela-Uruguay
In Asuncion (21.30): Paraguay-Brazil
Source: Ambito
