(Football news) With club football at a halt, South America qualifiers were in full flow as Brazil with one more win might qualify for next year's World Cup in 2022. Even after the draw, Argentina looked in a good position to qualify as well, it is the positions from third to sixth which are up for grabs.
Brazil came from behind to beat struggling Venezuela 3-1, Tite’s side were handed a shock in the first half as Eric Ramirez gave them the lead 11 minutes into the game. In the second the Venezuelans gave their heart and soul in defending their lead but the resolute Brazilans got back on level terms in the 71st minute after Marquinhos headed a corner, six minutes later they broke the Venezuelans hearts by scoring a late penalty through Gabriel Barbosa after Anthony put the final nail in the coffin by adding a third very late on. With this win Brazil maintain their 100% record and sit on top of the table with 27 points
Argentina drew 0-0 against Paraguay, in doing so Lionel Scaloni took his unbeaten streak to 23 games and remained the only other unbeaten team other than Brazil in the group. Argentina would have consolidated their second position in the group had they won but a lackluster performance from Lionel Messi and co left them only three points off 3rd and 4th. The only proper chance was carved out by Alejandro Gomez in the 78th minute as it brought out a superb save from the Paraguayan keeper Antony Silva. With this result Argentina sit in second position with 19 points from 9 matches
Uruguay drew 0-0 against Columbia as both failed to capitalise on the opportunity to go third. In the first half, Uruguay were arguably the most dominant team as they created chance after chance but couldn’t beat David Ospina in goal. The story of the second was a bit different as Columbia had the best chance of the match to win through Duvan Zapata. With this draw Columbia are in 5th with 14 points and Uruguay are 4th with 16 points.
World Cup regulars Chile lost to Peru again with a scoreline of 2-0, in what could be the end of their qualification run for next year's World Cup. Chile were completely outplayed in the match as goals from Cueva and Pena sealed their fate and also enhanced their chance of qualification for the grandest stage next year. With this result Peru climbed up to 11 points in 7th position and Chile are in 8th with 7points.
Also read: Brazil and Argentina went back to winning ways as both look favourites to qualify first
The other fixtures to look out for are:
- Bolivia vs Peru
- Venezuela vs Ecuador
- Colombia vs Brazil
- Argentina vs Uruguay
- Chile vs Paraguay