(Football news) Argentina booked their place for next year's World Cup after a 0-0 draw to Brazil, but results elsewhere meant that the point they secured was enough for automatic qualification. Even the Argentine players didn't know they had qualified but it was only after Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia recorded wins later in the evening that the Argentines were assured of their place in Qatar next year. The match was end to end and filled with drama as Fred’s second half shot for Brazil clipped the crossbar, the closest either team came to breaking the deadlock. The actual drama took place when Otamendi appeared to elbow Raphinha in the face, but referee Andres Cunha and the VAR cabin took no further action. Messi played the full 90 minutes after his injury but failed to make an impact as he was heavily marked throughout the game.
With this result Brazil stayed on top with 35 points as Argentina opened a six point lead over Ecuador, they are on 29 points and will be assured of top 4 position in the group which would be enough for automatic qualification to Qatar 2022.
Tite said, his voice rising, “Cunha is an extraordinary referee. Refereeing demands a team and those who were in the VAR, it's impossible, and I am going to repeat this, it is impossible not to see Otamendi's elbow on Raphinha. A high quality VAR official cannot work this way. It's inconceivable. Inconceivable is not the word I want to use. I am using that word because I am polite."
Messi said, “I gave it all I could. This was a very intense game… It's been a while since I've been out [injured] and it's not easy to play in a game that demands this kind of pace. We knew it was going to be like this, a match that was tough and hard to perform in."
The shock of the match week was Bolivia winning 3-0 against Uruguay, the two-time World Cup champion Uruguay will finish the year out of qualifying positions for a spot in Qatar, in seventh place in the 10-team round robin competition and with four matches remaining they will have to make up for the lost points. In the first half Bolivia opened the scoring in the 30th minute when the goalkeeper failed to hold onto Juan Arce’s cross, soon the Bolivians doubled their lead through Marcelo Martins with a header in the 45th minute. The story of the second was the same as Bolivia kept on putting pressure on Uruguay’s defence, finally in the 79th minute Arce put the final nail in the coffin with another header. It could have been worse for Uruguay had Bolivia not missed a penalty in the second half.
Uruguay coach Óscar Tabárez said in a press conference, “he's not throwing in the towel. I am a professional, I signed a contract and it says everything I need to do, the veteran coach said. “I don't know who can ask me to do that (resign) after this time at work.”
Ecuador took a major step towards qualification by winning 2-0 against Chile. Goals from Pervin Estupinan and a late goal from Moises proved enough for the three points as Chile ended their three match winning streak. The task at hand became really difficult when captain Arturo Vidal was sent off after a terrible kick on Felix Torres Caicedo for the majority of the match. With this result Ecuador opened up a six point lead over Colombia and Peru, most importantly they have opened a gap between fourth and third.
Columbia again failed to score as they fell to 0-0 draw against Paraguay on the other hand Peru leapfrogged into 4th in the table after a 2-1 victory over Venezuela, goals from Lapadula and Cueva were enough for them to get three points and move upto 17 points in the group.
South American 2022 World Cup Qualifiers: Next round games
- Colombia vs. Peru
- Venezuela vs. Bolivia
- Paraguay vs. Uruguay
- Chile vs. Argentina
- Ecuador vs. Brazil
