IFFHS CONTINENTAL NEWS - SOUTH AMERICA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Picture : Giovanni Simeone scored his first goal for Argentina, 30 years after his father Diego !
Statistics on WC 2026 qualifiers in South America (match-day 14)
Argentina vs Brazil 4-1
*Argentina became the first team in South America to have qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
*Argentina became the 1st ever team in the history of World Cup Qualifiers:
to win both matches against Brazil in the same edition,
to score 4+ goals in a game against Brazil.
*Brazil last conceded 4+ goals:
in a competitive match - at 2014 World Cup (1-7 against Germany),
against a South American opponent – at 1987 Copa América (0-4 against Chile).
in a competitive match vs Argentina – at December 1959 Copa América (1-4).
*Argentina fielded 10 of the 11 starting players that Lionel Scaloni used against Croatia in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar; with the only exception of Lionel Messi (replaced by Thiago Almada).
*Julián Álvarez's goal at 3 minutes 47 seconds) is the 3rd earliest goal scored in a qualifying derby vs Brazil, after:
Roberto Ayala (own goal) in the 2nd minute (2001),
Hernán Crespo in the 3rd minute (2005).
*Argentina made the joint-second fastest 2-0 lead in a qualifier(at 12 minutes), along with the game against Ecuador in 1960 and behind only the game vs Colombia in 2021 (at 8 minutes).
*Brazil conceded 3+ goals in the first half of a qualifier for just 2nd time; the other was also on Argentine soil (on 8 June 2005).
Chile vs Ecuador 0-0
*Ecuador have conceded just 2 goals in their last 11 qualifying matches, something only Argentina and Brazil have previously achieved in South America.
Colombia vs Paraguay 2-2
*Paraguay have gone 8 straight matches without losing: their second-longest such streak in the South American Qualifiers, behind only a run of 9 consecutive matches without defeat, between 1996 and 1997.
*Paraguay became the first visiting team to come back from 2 goals down (to win or draw) in the South American Qualifiers since Peru did so in Venezuela on 23 March 2017.
*Paraguay (who lost 2-0 at one point) have overcome a two-goal deficit for the first time in the history of the Qualifiers.
*On the other side, Colombia have blown a two-goal lead in a match also for the first time in a World Cup qualifier.
*Luis Díaz's goal (40 seconds) is the earliest Colombia has scored in the history of the Qualifiers, surpassing Anthony de Ávila's goal against Bolivia in 1997 (1 minute 16 seconds).
*Paraguay last were 2 goals down in the first 15 minutes of a Qualifiers match in 1981 (11 minutes).
*Colombia made their 2nd fastest 2-0 lead in the Qualifiers (13 minutes) after the game against Ecuador in 2005 (8 minutes).
Venezuela vs Peru 1-0
*Venezuela have won in the Qualifiers for the first time since October 2023 (against Chile).
*Venezuela got 1-0 victory a qualifier due to penalty goal for the 2nd time in their history, after the game against Paraguay in 2023 (with Salomon Rondón the goal scorer like now).
*Rondón's 4 goals in these Qualifiers have given Venezuela 5 points.
Bolivia vs Uruguay 0-0
*Bolivia have kept a clean sheet in 3 of their 3 qualifying matches played in El Alto at the altitude of 4100 metres (also 4-0 Venezuela and 1-0 Colombia). Only Paraguay maanged to score there (2-2).
*Uruguay has not had a single shot on target, something that hasn't happened in their qualifying match since 17 November 2020 (0-2 against Brazil in Montevideo).
Between these games, 27 consecutive qualifying matches have seen La Celeste’s at least one shot on target.
*Sergio Rochet made 7 saves, a tally not reached by a Uruguayan goalkeeper in South American Qualifiers since October 2021 (9 by Fernando Muslera against Brazil).