CONMEBOL: Latinos fight for a place in the 21st World Cup
Understand the standings of the classification of Latin American soccer
Brazil, with 33 points, is already beyond classified to the World Cup, revalidating its title as the maximum champion of this contest. The country’s national team has won five trophies, and it is the only team in playing the 20 world cups that have been developed to date. With Neymar as its main figure, the ‘canarinha’ is a favorite. It possibly will lift the cup next year.
From the second position, the situation becomes much more exciting. It is worth remembering that the World Cup qualifies the first four of the table, and a fifth will play the opportunity in a playoff. The interesting thing is that from second place to sixth, there are only four points of difference, even with twelve at stake.
Colombia holds the second position to date, with 24 points from 42 that have been played. In the first game, it will visit the Venezuelan team, which, although it is last with 6 points, it has always been a nuisance for the ‘cafetero’ team. In the last seven matches between these two teams Venezuela has won four, Colombia has won two and the remaining one was a draw. Meanwhile, in the second game, Colombia will host the leader, Brazil. The team will attempt to avenge the 2-1 defeat at Manaus.
The third position is occupied by Uruguay. The ‘charruas’ have one point less than Colombia, and will face Argentina and Paraguay, respectively. ‘La Argentina’, which is currently fifth with 22 points, comes to these last matches with a practically new list of players among which stand out Mauro Icardi, Paulo Dybala, and Lionel Messi as the captain. The technician is Jorge Sampaoli. This renewal allows Argentina to get excited about leaving the playoffs area, and to qualify directly to the World Cup. It is an important challenge for Uruguay.
On the other hand, the mess is also on the table between the Chilean and Peruvian team against the Bolivian team, in which FIFA, with approval from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), decided to take six points from Bolivia, won against Peru and Chile, and transfer, to three for each team, respectively. Thus, despite Bolivia’s appeal to FIFA, both Chile and Uruguay reaches this double match day occupying the fourth position, with 23 points. Uruguay and Chile would need to win their matches against Paraguay and Bolivia respectively.
Ecuador, with 20 points, closes this list of the six teams that have greater opportunities of qualifying for the World Cup. The Ecuadorian team will have two late matches. The first one will be against Peru, which, with 18 points, practically treads its heels. In the second one the team will face Chile, which only surpasses Ecuador with three units of advantage.
Below is the list of the matches to be played in this double round of qualifying matches, as well as the cities where they will take place:
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Venezuela vs Colombia – San Cristóbal
Chile vs Paraguay – Santiago
Uruguay vs Argentina – Montevideo
Brazil vs Ecuador – Porto Alegre
Peru vs Bolivia – Lima
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Bolivia vs Chile – La Paz
Colombia vs Brazil – Barranquilla
Ecuador vs Peru – Quito
Argentina vs. Venezuela – Buenos Aires
Paraguay vs Uruguay – Asunción
Latin American Post | Christopher Hernández Ramírez
Copy edited by Laura Rocha Rueda
