Argentina became the first South American team to secure its World Championship ticket without even kicking a ball on Tuesday, after Bolivia failed to beat Uruguay.
This means that Bolivia finishes seventh in the South American qualifiers with 14 points from 14 matches, and that Argentina – which leads – is guaranteed one of the six World Championship spots.
The celebration of the qualification was briefly interrupted for a home match against arch-rivals Brazil, this time without the injured Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
The Argentine fans quickly returned to euphoria, as Julián Alvarez scored four minutes into the match. Eight minutes later, Argentina scored again, through Enzo Fernández.
Brazil is in fourth place in the South American qualifiers with 21 points, a full ten points behind Argentina but only two points behind Ecuador, which holds second place. Uruguay, which is in third place, and Paraguay, which is in fifth place, also have 21 points.
Lionel Messi, who has suffered a groin injury, also missed the match against Uruguay on Saturday, which ended 1–0 to Argentina.
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