After nine months of interruption, to make way in the meantime for the Copa America in the United States, the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Three teams have one foot in the Cup, after the first third of the battle between the 10 countries of the region has been played: Argentina with 15 points, Uruguay 13 and Colombia 12, after six games.
It is true that the South American qualifiers will last around two and a half years and although many things can happen in such a long period, it will be very difficult for dramatic changes to occur in the locations.
The top six in the standings will advance directly to the World Cup and the seventh will go to an intercontinental play-off.
If we consider what happened in South America in the Qatar 2022 qualifiers, we will see that Colombia finished in sixth place with 23 points. Following that logic, we can conclude that the Albiceleste need only three wins in the next 12 games to secure qualification.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has not called up Lionel Messi for the September matches so he can recover from an ankle injury. The coach, however, has a host of stars to play at a high level.
For their part, the Celestes and Cafeteros need only four more wins to achieve their goal.
This is not to say that the rest of the season will be a piece of cake for the three aforementioned teams. Each match will be played to the death and blood, sweat and tears will have to be put into it to get through.
There is a reason why it is said that the South American qualifiers are the most difficult of all.
The remaining seven teams will fight with all their might to, in some cases, stay in the qualifying positions and in others to get into those positions.
Among this group, it is surprising that Venezuela is in fourth place with nine points, Brazil is in sixth place with seven and Ecuador is in fifth place with eight.
It is worth remembering that Ecuador was penalized with three points for the incorrect registration of a player in the last qualifying rounds, and despite this, it has already made it into the qualifying positions.
Brazil is the only country in the world that has participated in all the cups and will certainly not be left out in 2026.
Although they do not have the great stars of the past such as Pelé, Tostao, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Romario, the Auriverdes still have notable players such as Vinicio Jr. and Rodrigo and Neymar could be available in September, after being out for almost a year due to torn ligaments and meniscus in his knee.
The most pressing situation is for Paraguay and Chile, 5, with five points each; Bolivia, 3, and Peru, 2. It is no coincidence that all of them have changed coaches and are now waiting for a miracle.
Even desperate decisions have been made.
Bolivia, for example, sacrificed the economic part and changed its headquarters from the Hernán Siles Suazo stadium, with capacity for 42,000 fans, and will now play at home in the Municipal Stadium of El Alto, with a capacity for 22,000 people.
Bolivians plan to drown their rivals. The Siles Suazo stadium is located in La Paz, at 3,650 metres above sea level, while El Alto is at 4,150 metres above sea level.
Venezuela, which is having a magnificent qualifying campaign, will be the first team to face this challenge. It is not just a matter of adding 400 meters of height to the already stifling 3,650 meters, but everything is different: the speed of the ball is greater because the higher the pitch, the less air resistance.
The food must also be very light to help better blood flow to the brain. It is necessary to try to play within the first eight hours of arrival, because after that the effects of altitude begin. For this reason, the teams usually go to Cochabamba, at 2,558 m above sea level, to spend the night before the match and the next day they travel to El Alto.
The Vinotinto’s logistics will surely influence the outcome of the match.
On the other hand, Paraguay signed Gustavo Alfaro, who in the last qualifying round qualified Ecuador for the World Cup.
The ninth and tenth rounds of the South American qualifiers will be played on October 5 and 10, respectively. Therefore, the four matches that each team will play in the next two months may be the starting point for the clearing of the outlook.
The clashes in September
The matches of the seventh round will be the following: on September 5 in Buenos Aires, Argentina vs. Chile and in El Alto, La Paz, Bolivia vs. Venezuela. The following day, in Montevideo, Uruguay vs. Paraguay; in Curitiba, Brazil vs. Ecuador; and in Lima, Peru vs. Colombia.
On the eighth day, on September 10, they will face each other in Barranquilla, Colombia and Argentina; in Quito, Ecuador vs. Peru; in Santiago, Chile vs. Bolivia; in Maturín, Venezuela vs. Uruguay; and in Asunción, Paraguay vs. Brazil.
