Brazil and Argentina Suffer Defeats in World Cup Qualifiers as South American Teams Struggle

In recent World Cup qualifying matches, both Brazil and Argentina faced setbacks that could impact their 2026 World Cup ambitions.

Brazil’s national team experienced a 1-0 defeat away at Paraguay, marking their fourth loss in the last five qualifiers. Despite starting key players like Liverpool’s Alisson, Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes, and West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, Brazil struggled to find their rhythm. The attacking trio of Real Madrid stars Rodrygo, Endrick, and Vinicius Jr. also failed to make a difference in the match.

Defending champions Argentina faced their own defeat, losing 2-1 to Colombia. Former Real Madrid and Everton midfielder James Rodriguez scored the decisive penalty for Colombia. Notably, Lionel Messi, now playing for Inter Miami, was absent from the squad.

In other qualifying action, Manchester United’s Manuel Ugarte started for Uruguay in their goalless draw against Venezuela. Argentina remains at the top of the South American qualifying table by two points, while Brazil has dropped to fifth place. The top six teams will automatically qualify for the World Cup, with the seventh-placed team entering an inter-continental play-off.

In Asia, Australia were held to a 0-0 draw against Indonesia, following their 1-0 loss to Bahrain. Japan, in Australia’s group, enjoyed a convincing 5-0 victory over Bahrain, with Premier League players Wataru Endo, Kaoru Mitoma, and Daichi Kamada all featuring prominently.

South Korea celebrated their first World Cup qualifying win with a 3-1 away victory over Oman, thanks to goals from Tottenham’s Son Heung-min and Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan.