The 733-day journey ends with Bolivia in the repechage and Messi as a goalscorer without playing

Sports Writing (EFE).- The eighteenth and final date of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup left Bolivia ready to play the repechage and Venezuela waiting for the start of the 2030 World Cup qualifiers and thus forget that they missed a great opportunity to be able to attend their first global event.

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Argentina, which played this Tuesday without Lionel Messi, led the final order of the qualified teams with 38 points. Ecuador followed with 29, with 28 Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay to close the privileged group that will compete in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

 South American Qualifiers Standings

 Direct qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup

Argentina (38 points) Ecuador (29 points) Colombia (28 points) Uruguay (28 points) Brazil (28 points) Paraguay (28 points)

 To the repechage

Bolivia: Seventh place with 20 points.

 Removed

Venezuela: Eighth place with 18 points. Peru: Ninth place with 12 points. Chile: Tenth place with 11 points La Verde, for its part, finished seventh with 20 points and with the quota to play the intercontinental repechage along with five other teams: one from Africa, one from Asia, another from Oceania and two from Concacaf; which will be played between March 23 and 31 of next year for a place in the World Cup. For now, the group draw for the 2026 World Cup will be held in Washington on December 5 in the United States. These are the facts that marked day 733 of some South American qualifiers that began on September 7, 2023 and that today lowered the curtain.

Bolivia in the playoffs and deflates Brazil

The Bolivian national team will play an international hexagonal in March for a spot in the 2026 World Cup as a result of the seventh place they obtained with a 1-0 victory over Brazil, who finished in fifth place. A penalty executed by Miguel Terceros in the fourth minute added to the first half was enough for the Verde to seal the triumph at 4,150 meters in the municipality of El Alto, and plunged the Canarinha to fifth place with the same 28 points as Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay. Bolivia reached the end of its journey with 20 points, which earned it the seventh place, to which Venezuela clung today, and Brazil finished with 28 integers out of a possible 54, with a 51.8 percent utilization.

Colombia liquidates Venezuela

Venezuela depended on itself to play the repechage for the 2026 World Cup and failed by losing this Tuesday by 3-6 against a Colombia that played with the tranquility of being classified for its seventh World Cup, and gave life to Bolivia that did the task and stripped it of seventh place by winning 1-0 against Brazil. At the Monumental de Maturín, with an immense Luis Suárez who scored a poker, the Vinotinto went from happiness to disappointment. They took the lead at 3 minutes with Telasco Segovia, who took a shot that defeated Kevin Mier. Then Yerry Mina equalized with a header after a corner from James and Josef Martínez made it 2-1 after a gross error by Mier. Until that moment, Venezuela was securing the repechage, but the Colombian Lucho Suárez had other plans. In a span of 25 minutes, he scored four goals and dampened the party that ended in disappointment upon learning that in El Alto, 4,521.8 kilometers from Maturín, Bolivia defeated Brazil 1-0. Then, Salomón Rondón scored the third at 76 and Jhon Córdoba, two minutes later, scored Colombia’s sixth goal, which buried the Vinotinto’s aspiration to tie, finishing eighth with 18 points.

Ecuador beats Argentina and secures second place

La Tri secured second place in the South American qualifiers by defeating Argentina 1-0 at the Isidro Romero Carbo stadium in Guayaquil. The only goal was scored from a penalty by striker Enner Valencia, who thus reached 6 in the league.

Both teams suffered an expulsion by the match referee, Colombian Wilmar Roldán. In the first half, the Albiceleste lost Nicolás Otamendi for a violent foul on Valencia, while La Tri was left with ten in the second half due to the double booking committed by Moisés Caicedo. Argentina, despite the defeat, finished first in the qualifiers and their performance was 70.3%. Ecuador broke a streak of four consecutive draws and the victory allows them to achieve a performance of 53.7%.

Last-place Chile draws with Uruguay, the fourth

Chile and Uruguay drew 0-0 at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago in a match in which La Roja could not fulfill the task of getting out of last place and the visitors settled in fourth place. Having won just 20.3% of the points at stake (54) reflects why the Chileans, now led by Nicolás Córdova, finished after matchday 18 at the bottom of the road to the United States, Mexico and Canada with 11 units. Uruguay, which, under the guidance of Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, had already secured its presence on North American soil, captured 28 points, resulting in a 51.8% performance. The 2026 World Cup will be the fifteenth for La Celeste, while for La Roja it will be the third consecutive one they haven’t attended since Brazil 2014.

Paraguay prolongs the party and Peru ends in depression

A goal by Matías Galarza in the 78th minute extended Paraguay’s celebration for their qualification to the ninth World Cup in its history and ended their campaign with a 0-1 away win in Lima, which left Peru in depression. La Albirroja finished in sixth place, with the last direct pass to the World Cup that will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada and with 28 points in the saddle. The Peruvian national team, in one of its worst performances in the fight for a World Cup spot, finished in ninth and penultimate place with just 12 points out of a possible 54.

Messi, Without Playing, the Top Scorer

In the last matchday, the top scorer classification for these qualifiers was also defined: Lionel Messi, without playing today with Argentina, finished with 8 as the top scorer of the tournament. Colombian Luis Díaz and Bolivian Miguel Terceros escorted him. Both with 7.