BUILD-UP: World Cup qualifying in South America

2022 FIFA World Cup, General Soccer News

Lionel Messi of Argentina look on

  • All ten CONMEBOL teams are in Qatar 2022 qualifying action today
  • FIFA.com has all the build-up to the games
  • We will post live updates throughout them

Today’s fixtures

Ecuador-Colombia
Venezuela-Chile
Uruguay-Brazil
Paraguay-Bolivia
Peru-Argentina

Scroll down to read trivia, stats, quotes and more about each game.

Leading scorers in CONMEBOL qualifying for Qatar 2022

Ecuador-Colombia

World Cup qualifying head-to-head record:
8 Colombia wins; 6 draws; 4 Ecuador wins

Did you know?

  • Colombia have kept 11 clean sheets from their last 14 meetings with Ecuador in World Cup qualifying.
  • Last month, in a 4-2 victory over Uruguay, at the age of 18 years and 347 days, Moises Caicedo became the first player born in the 21st century to score in World Cup qualifying. It made the midfielder the fifth-youngest player in history to score in the South American qualifiers and the youngest Ecuadorian, breaking Antonio Valencia’s record.
  • James Rodriguez is set to become the ninth Colombia to reach 80 caps.
  • Colombia have won their last four meetings with Ecuador in all matches.

Quotes

Gustavo Alfaro: “We have the vision of putting on a great performance and finishing this year, which has been very difficult for everybody, in the best way possible. We want to win this game and, more than anything, qualify for the World Cup.”

Carlos Queiroz: “We know what difficult rivals Ecuador are. They have been playing well, scoring goals. We respect them a lot. But we are ready to get back to business: to fight, to play well, to win. Defeat makes us stronger.”

Leading all-time scorers in CONMEBOL qualifying

Venezuela-Chile

World Cup qualifying head-to-head record:
11 Chile wins; 2 draws; 1 Venezuela win

Did you know?

  • Chile’s biggest-ever win in World Cup qualifying came against Venezuela: 6-0 in 1997. Ivan Zamorano scored five, including two trademark headers and two volleys.
  • Twenty-five caps is what Wuilker Farinez has at the age of just 22 – an incredibly rare occurrence for a goalkeeper. He stands at just 1.75m tall – again very unusual for a player of his position – and became the first goalkeeper to score at a FIFA U-20 World Cup™ at Korea Republic 2017.
  • Arturo Vidal’s double in Peru made Chile the first nation to have four players reach 15 goals in South American qualifying for the World Cup. Marcelo Salas (18), Ivan Zamorano (17) and Alexis Sanchez (16) have all reached the figure. Uruguay boast three: Luis Suarez (25), Edinson Cavani (17) and Diego Forlan (15).
  • Venezuela reached their highest-ever position on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – 25th – in November 2019. They are currently 28th, above the likes of African champions Algeria, Serbia, Russia and regional rivals Paraguay, Ecuador and Bolivia.
  • Venezuela are the only South American nation to have never reached the World Cup.

Quotes

Alain Baroja: “The mood, despite the results, is better. We would have liked another result against Brazil, but the team looked much better on the pitch, much more compact, and that was our main idea. Now we must go for the victory against Chile.”

Arturo Vidal: “Every national team you face in South America is difficult. We have to play every game at 100 per cent. The most important thing is the national team and fighting to make sure we are at the next World Cup.”

Rolf Feltscher to FIFA.com: “Imagining myself helping Venezuela qualify for their first World Cup gives me goosebumps. I couldn’t put a price on that. It would be the ultimate.”

Uruguay-Brazil

World Cup qualifying head-to-head record:

5 draws; 4 Brazil wins; 1 Uruguay win

Did you know?

  • Brazil are unbeaten in World Cup qualifying since Tite took charge in 2016, winning 13 and drawing two of 15 games, scoring 40 goals and conceding just five in the process.
  • Oscar Tabarez has never tasted victory against Brazil since taking the Uruguay reins, losing six and drawing two.
  • Thiago Silva is set to make his 93rd international appearance and tie Gilberto Silva as Brazil’s 12th most-capped player.
  • Edinson Cavani has scored in each of his last three competitive appearances against Brazil.
  • Brazil have scored four goals on each of their last two trips to Uruguay in World Cup qualifying, with Kaka inspiring a 4-0 win in 2009 and Paulinho hitting a hat-trick in a 4-1 triumph in 2017.

Tite has confirmed that Brazil will line up as follows, provided Allan is fit to start: Ederson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Renan Lodi; Allan (Arthur), Douglas Luiz, Everton Ribeiro; Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison.

Quotes

Renan Lodi to FIFA.com: “I’m almost another striker! (laughs) I have more freedom to attack with the Seleção. It’s not like this at my club. I really enjoy it.”

Oscar Tabarez on Neymar’s absence: “I don’t know if it will be an advantage for us, but for me personally it’s a relief. But we’ll still face the best team in these qualifiers, and the last ones, and several others. We’ll try and limit our opponents output and then try and create problems for them.”

Firmino to FIFA.com on how much he wants to win Qatar 2022: “So, so, so, so much. Much more than you can imagine. I’ve won the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the Premier League. [The World Cup] is what’s missing for me.”

“It’s my trademark! Of course I’ve imagined doing the pigeon dance in the World Cup. The supporters really like it, it especially appeals to kids. I’ve done it for the Seleção together with Neymar, I do it for my club, and I want to score goals and do it many times at the 2022 World Cup.”

Richarlison to FIFA.com

World Cup participations

Paraguay-Bolivia

World Cup qualifying head-to-head record:
10 Paraguay wins; 5 Bolivia wins; 3 draws

Did you know?

  • Paraguay have won all nine of their World Cup qualifiers at home to Bolivia, scoring 27 goals and conceding just four.
  • Marcelo Martins’ goal against Ecuador saw him become Bolivia’s joint-leading all-time marksman alongside Joaquin Botero (20 goals apiece).
  • No player in Paraguay’s squad has more than five international goals to his name.
  • Juan Carlos Arce netted his 12th international goal last time out. The 35-year-old requires one more to go joint-seventh on Bolivia’s all-time leading marksmen alongside two national legends: Maximo Alcocer and Marco Etcheverry.

Quotes

Antony Silva to FIFA.com: “Bolivia are having a tough time right now, so it’s imperative we get three points in Paraguay, especially having already dropped points at home to Peru. The responsibility will be ours, but we’ve shown already that we’re able to assume it.”

Marcelo Martins: “It’s a joy to be my country’s all-time leading goalscorer. It’s a really beautiful thing for a Bolivian player, and I want to keep scoring goals to help the national team. I think we lacked a little bit of luck against Argentina and Ecuador – games we could have won – and I hope we can get the victory against Paraguay.”

Peru-Argentina

World Cup qualifying head-to-head record:
9 Argentina wins; 7 draws; 2 Peru wins

Did you know?

  • Lionel Messi is set to make his 142nd Argentina appearance and equal Cafu as South America’s fifth most-capped international behind Javier Zanetti (143), Javier Mascherano (147), Paulo da Silva (148) and Ivan Hurtado (168).
  • Peru have faced Lionel Messi five times in World Cup qualifying and, surprisingly, prevented him scoring on every occasion.
  • Gianluca Lapadula, who scored a hat-trick on his solitary outing for Italy B and was a non-playing member of the Azzurri squad for a Russia 2018 qualifier, made his Peru debut against Chile, becoming the first Italy-born player to appear in South American qualifying.
  • No South American side has qualified for the World Cup having collected less than two points from their first three games. Can Peru become the first?
  • Argentina have not lost any match away to Peru in 35 years. Juan Carlos Oblitas secured La Blanquirroja a defeat of La Albiceleste in a Mexico 1986 preliminary. It left Peru requiring victory in Buenos Aires to reach their fourth World Cup in five attempts, and they were nine minutes away from getting it until Ricardo Gareca bundled home an equaliser to snatch Argentina a ticket to the finals. ‘El Tigre’ was duly left out of the Argentinians’ squad, and they went on to become champions at the Azteca.

Quotes

Ricardo Gareca: “We are not used to giving special marking to individuals, but we do pay attention to our opponents’ strengths. That said, Argentina are much more than just Messi. We’re in a tricky position. If we don’t get three points it will make things more difficult, but it won’t rule us out from qualifying.”

Rodrigo De Paul on Lionel Messi to FIFA.com: “When you start sharing things with him, he is so transparent that, instead of telling him what you think of him, you feel more like asking him about his little kids or of reminding him of the time he took you out with his studs up in a Valencia-Barcelona game (laughs). When he becomes your captain, you’d go to war for him if he asked you to.”

Renato Tapia to FIFA.com: “I know we’re going to qualify, I’m absolutely certain. I say that from the heart, just as I said it after the opening game of the previous qualifiers.”

Lionel Scaloni on Nico Gonzalez’s performance against Paraguay: “We had no doubts about what Nico could bring to the team, and he played a good game. He’s in good form. He linked up well with Lo Celso the other day.”

Franco Armani: “Peru are a great team with good players. It will be difficult as they’re coming off a loss. They’re patient and then try and hit you on the counter-attack at extreme pace.”

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