Lionel Messi of Argentina seems to be dejected as gamers of Uruguay have a good time after a FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier match between Argentina and Uruguay at Estadio Alberto J. Armando on November 16, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
Lionel Messi couldn’t assist Argentina prolong its unbeaten streak since its World Cup title.
Uruguay beat Argentina 2-0 at La Bombonera Stadium in Buenos Aires on Thursday in a World Cup qualifying match, its largest victory to date underneath new coach Marcelo Bielsa.
Argentina hadn’t misplaced a aggressive match since its group-stage opener towards Saudi Arabia throughout final yr’s World Cup in Qatar. It hadn’t misplaced at residence since falling 1-0 to Paraguay in 2016, additionally throughout World Cup qualifying.
Brazil continued its poor marketing campaign in qualifying with a 2-1 loss at Colombia, its second consecutive defeat within the round-robin competitors. Striker Luiz Diaz scored twice on headers to lead a formidable turnaround on the Metropolitano Stadium in Barranquilla, together with his father celebrating within the stands solely days after being launched by kidnappers. It was Colombia’s first victory over Brazil in World Cup qualifying in 15 matches.
Argentina nonetheless leads the 10-team South American qualifying group with 12 factors from 5 matches. Uruguay is second with 10 factors. Colombia has 9 and Venezuela eight. Brazil will host the World Cup champions on the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in fifth place, with seven factors.
Ecuador, Paraguay and Chile have 5 factors every. Bolivia has three and Peru one.
The 2026 World Cup within the United States, Mexico and Canada will embrace 48 groups, that means direct entry for the highest six groups from South America. The seventh-place group can earn a berth in an intercontinental playoff.
Uruguay’s huge win
Uruguay was aggressive from the beginning towards the World Cup champions. Darwin Núnez practically opened the scoring with a crossed shot within the tenth minute after a mistake by defender Nicolás Otamendi.
For the primary time since Argentina’s World Cup title, coach Lionel Scaloni appeared jittery as his midfielders struggled to block Uruguay’s wingers. His gamers did not heed the decision and their punishment got here within the forty second minute, when Matias Viña simply stole the ball from Nahuel Molina and gently made a low cross into the penalty field. Ronald Araújo smashed it into the again of the online.
Argentina got here shut to leveling the scoring on a free kick by Messi and a close-range shot by Otamendi, which pressured goalkeeper Sergio Rochet to make a key save close to the top of the primary half.
After the break, Uruguay stored the stress on Argentina, which as soon as once more counted on Messi and substitute Angel di Maria to discover its greatest possibilities. Messi hit the bar with a free kick within the 57th minute.
Núnez scored within the 87th minute on a counter after the Uruguayan protection stopped Messi on the fringe of its field.
“We never felt comfortable in this match,” Messi stated. “Uruguay is a physical team, they have good teamwork. It is always like that against them.”
Scaloni stated Uruguay performed higher.
“We can not suppose that as a result of we’re world champions we’ll by no means lose once more,” Scaloni said. “We are not unbeatable, I said it before and I will continue to say it.”
Messi’s close friend Luis Suárez, who just returned to the Uruguayan national team, did not play.
In the previous round of World Cup qualifying, Uruguay beat Brazil by the same score in Montevideo. Its next match will be against Bolivia.
Colombia 2 Brazil 1
With Neymar and Casemiro out with injuries, Brazil coach Fernando Diniz had some major restructuring to do ahead of what he called “a physical encounter” at Colombia. Gabriel Martinelli and midfielder André were picked as substitutes.
Martinelli opened the scoring in the fourth minute after a quick exchange of passes with Vinicius Júnior. Brazil’s momentum stalled after the Real Madrid winger left in the 25th minute with a left thigh injury.
Colombia’s game up front depended almost exclusively on Diaz. The striker nearly scored after dribbling past several Brazilians in the 30th minute and was stopped by goalkeeper Alisson on two more dangerous shots in the second half.
Diaz equalized with an easy header in the 75th minute; he didn’t even need to jump. He added a second goal four minutes later. His father, Luis Manuel Diaz, fell on top of some people next to him in the stands as his son celebrated.
“He is a friend, he suffered a lot these days. This is beyond soccer,” Alisson said. “But we are leaving here in disappointment.”
Other matches
Bolivia gained its first match of this round-robin, beating Peru 2-0 on Thursday. Henry Vaca scored within the twentieth minute and Ramiro Vaca within the 86th. The recreation in La Paz marked the farewell on residence soil for veteran striker Marcelo Martins. The 36-year-old is Bolivia’s prime all-time scorer with 31 objectives.
Venezuela and Ecuador performed to a 0-0 draw on Thursday, as did Chile and Paraguay.
