First team

ARGENTINA STARTERS MERCADO AND BANEGA SEE THEIR NATIONAL SIDE STRUGGLE

06/10/2017
Colombia, playing without Muriel, prolong their stay in the competition and will play in the last qualifier match

Disappointing results for the Sevillistas in the penultimate fixtures of the CONMEBOL qualifiers. Despite having over 90 minutes to find a goal and faced with the danger of not qualifying for the Russia 2018 World Cup - there were no victories. For Argentina, both Mercado and Banega were in the starting eleven for Sampaoli, with a substitution in the 60th minute when Fernando Gago came on for Banega. With a final score of 0-0 against Peru in the Buenos Aires stadium, there is still a lot to do following on from 17 qualification matches. Meanwhile, Columbian striker Luis Muriel did not make an appearance in Barranquilla against Paraguay (1-2). In fact, the forward wasn't even on the bench. 

As it stands, the Argentinian national team are out, but the team has one more match to try and secure qualification for Russia. Columbia, on the other hand, is in a more comfortable position, however with Peru as a direct rival, a defeat could be costly for the team. 

Focusing on Argentina's current standing, the team will qualify for Russia in the following cases: winning in Ecuador, a team already knocked out of the competition, would mean the team would go straight to the playoffs having secured 28 points and overtaking Peru and Columbia who play each other. With three points secured the team will be going straight to the World Cup if one of the following three results occur: 1) Chile does not win against Brazil in Sao Paulo. 2) Peru and Colombia draw in Lima. 3) Peru beats Columbia with a lower goal difference than that of Argentina vs. Ecuador. 

If Argentina draw in Quito, even with the disadvantage of the altitude, the team will only progress to the playoffs if they are given a complex combination of two of three possible results: 1) Peru loses against Columbia. 2) Paraguay loses to the already eliminated Venezuela. 3) Chile loses by more than 1 goal against Brazil. If the team loses, it will not have any more options to qualify. 

 

18th round of fixtures for CONMEBOL (last)

Brazil-Chile

Ecuador-Argentina

Peru-Columbia

Uruguay-Bolivia

Paraguay-Venezuela

 

Rankings

1. Brazil: 38 points

2. Uruguay: 28

3. Chile: 26

4. Columbia: 26

5. Peru: 25

6. Argentina: 25

7. Paraguay: 24

8. Ecuador: 20

9. Bolivia: 14

10. Venezuela: 9