IFFHS CONTINENTAL STATS - SOUTH AMERICA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Statistics on WC 2026 qualifiers in South America (match-day 16)
Brazil and Ecuador have qualified for World Cup 2026 joining Argentina who did it earlier.
Argentina vs Colombia 1-1
*Luis Díaz (picture) is the first Colombian player to score in Argentina in the Qualifiers since Carlos Valderrama in 1997.
Colombia's total 7 goals on Argentine soil in the Qualifiers are these 2, plus the legendary 5-0 victory on 5 September 1993.
*Luis Díaz became the 2nd Colombian player to score against both Argentina (1 goal) and Brazil (3) in the Qualifiers, after Juan Pablo Ángel (1 against Brazil and 1 against Argentina).
*Since Luis Díaz's debut with the national team in September 2018, he scored for Colombia 19 goals, more than twice more than any other player (next are James Rodríguez with 8 and Miguel Borja with 7.
*After Luis Díaz's goal, it was the first time in Lionel Scaloni's tenure that Argentina have trailed at Monumental and the first time at that stadium since October 2015 (0-2 against Ecuador).
*Enzo Fernández became the first Argentine to be sent off at home in the Qualifiers since 1 September 2016 (Dybala against Uruguay).
*For the first time, Lionel Messi was substituted in the national team while the team was losing.
He was substituted playing for Argentina 7 times in his career overall; in 3 cases due to decision of coach and in 4 due to injury. Both previous cases of managerial decisions occurred in 2007.
*Argentina last scored a goal while down a man in the Qualifiers on 6 September 2008 (Sergio Agüero equalized at home against Paraguay, after Carlos Tévez had been sent off).
*Colombia are the only South American team to have conceded 2 goals while having a numerical advantage in these Qualifiers (also against Bolivia).
Brazil vs Paraguay 1-0
*Vinicius scored the first goal of the Carlo Ancelotti era in charge of Brazil.
*This is the first Paraguay’s defeat under Gustavo Alfaro (5 wins and 4 draws in the previous 9 matches).
Uruguay vs Venezuela 2-0
*Of the last 15 goals scored in the first two minutes of the second half in the South American Qualifiers, more than half (8) have been against Venezuela.
Bolivia vs Chile 2-0
*Bolivia have beaten the same team twice in the same qualifying edition for the 4th time in their history (against Venezuela in the 1978 edition and again in the 1994, against Peru in 1990), and it's the first time they achieved this under the current format.
*Miguel Terceros goal after 5 minutes is Bolivia's earliest goal at home in the Qualifiers since 11 October 2016 (Pablo Escobar scored in the 3rd minute against Ecuador).
*Terceros became the 4th Bolivian player to score more than 5 goals (6) in a single edition of the South American World Cup Qualifiers this century, after:
Marcelo Moreno (7 goals in 2010, 10 goals in 2022),
Joaquin Botero (8 goals in 2010),
Julio Baldivieso (6 goals in 2002).
*Lucas Chávez's expulsion in the 19th minute became the earliest of a Bolivian player in the Qualifiers since Alejandro Gómez's red card in the 18th minute against Ecuador on 6 September 2008.
*Francisco Sierralta's expulsion is the fastest of a substitute (10 minutes after coming on) in Chile's history in South American Qualifiers.
He surpassed Marcelino Núñez, who was sent off 14 minutes after coming on against Brazil on 17 October 2023.
Peru vs Ecuador 0-0
*Ecuador remain the most defensive in the South American group. They conceded much fewer than others (only 5 goals) while only two clear outsiders, Peru and Chile, have scored fewer than “El Tri” (13 goals).