South American qualification: Chile almost certainly without the World Cup, Colombia also looks bleak

What is happening in the European fight for the World Cup in Qatar is well known to everyone. So let’s take a look at South America, where qualifying is coming to a head. The traditionally strong teams of Chile and Colombia are doing very badly.

In the South American qualifiers, four teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the fifth team going through to the barrage, where they will play the fourth team from the North and Central American qualifiers. Costa Rica currently holds this position, but Panama can still get in.

The table is traditionally led by a strong Brazil, but that is unlikely to change. Neymar and co. have a seven-point lead over second-placed Argentina with two games to go and Argentina three. However, it is not certain whether the match between Brazil and Argentina, which was not played when health officials stormed the pitch and picked up players who were not allowed to be in the country, will be played.

In third place, very surprisingly, is Ecuador. The team without big stars has collected 25 points and is already assured of a ticket to Qatar. The most important names are Enner Valencia of Fenerbahce and Pervis Estupinan of Villarreal.

In fourth place is Uruguay. The latter had a very poor start to the qualifiers, even moving outside the qualification places for a while. However, the team around Luis Suárez or Federico Valverde has worked hard and with the last three wins has climbed up to the qualification position with 25 points. Moreover, with Thursday night’s win over Peru, they are assured of direct promotion.

It was a straight fight. Peru are in fifth place in the barrage with 21 points. And in the last round, they will try their best to hold on to that position. Paraguay will face them, but Colombia is in sixth place with 20 points. The latter will face last-place Venezuela in the last round and can be expected to win.

Peru must win at all costs if it wants to qualify for the barrage. Chile is still in seventh place with 19 points. For Alexis Sanchez’s team, a 0:4 loss to Brazil makes progress a utopia. Chile would have to beat Urugay in the last round and hope for losses by both Peru and Colombia.

Source: CONMEBOL