Paraguay Achieves a Precious Win Over Argentina… Brazil Settles for a Draw with Venezuela

The Argentina national team experienced another setback in the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The world champions lost 1-2 to host Paraguay in the 11th round of qualifiers. Argentina took the lead early with Lautaro Martínez scoring in the 11th minute, but Antonio Sanabria quickly equalized for Paraguay in the 19th minute, and the first half ended 1-1. The excitement continued in the second half when Omar Alderete scored Paraguay’s second goal in the 47th minute. Argentina tried to find an equalizer during the remainder of the match, but without success. The shocked Argentine team struggled to regain their balance, as their captain Lionel Messi was largely ineffective in the first half, managing only a single shot that went wide of the goal.

Lionel Scaloni, the head coach of Argentina, expressed hope that his team would quickly get back on track following the unexpected loss to Paraguay. After the match, Scaloni said, “I’m not here to criticize my players; I’m here to support them. We knew the match would be complicated. We aim to get back to winning ways quickly and give confidence to many of the young new players.” The Argentine coach, who led his country to their third World Cup title in the last tournament in Qatar, added, “We played a good first half, but our movements at the beginning of the second half made everything difficult for us. We must congratulate Paraguay, who defended very well.”

Lautaro Martínez and Rodrigo De Paul, Argentina’s stars, expressed regret over the unexpected loss to Paraguay. Martínez said, “We arrived at a difficult stadium. It has always been tough for us here. Overall, we played a good match, and we had good control of the ball. We need to think about what’s coming next.” Martínez emphasized, “We need to correct a lot of the things we got wrong in this match, but overall we’re fine. We move forward, and we have to focus on the next match against Peru on Tuesday.” De Paul stated, “We tried to get a better result, but Paraguay played really well. Losing is always upsetting, but that’s it. We must quickly rise, correct our mistakes, and get back to winning.”

Despite suffering their third loss in the qualifiers, with 7 wins and 1 draw, Argentina remains at the top of the standings with 22 points. On the other hand, Paraguay, which extended its unbeaten run to five matches, moved up to 16 points in sixth place. Argentina’s final qualifier of 2024 will be against Peru at home next week in round 12, which will also see Paraguay facing Bolivia at home. The top six teams from the qualifiers will qualify for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, while the seventh-place team will play in the intercontinental playoffs.

Brazil missed the chance to secure their third consecutive win in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The “Samba dancers” settled for a 1-1 draw with hosts Venezuela in the same round. Brazil opened the scoring through Raphinha in the 43rd minute, but Venezuela quickly equalized with Telasco Segovia’s goal in the 46th minute. Brazil then squandered a chance to take all three points when their star Vinícius Júnior missed a penalty in the 62nd minute. Venezuela finished the match with 10 players after Alexander González was sent off in the 89th minute.

Raphinha told Brazilian channel Globo: “It’s disappointing because winning is the most important thing for me. I think we could have won the match. We knew it would be a complicated game. Venezuela has a team that is efficient, but sometimes things get complicated in a match when you fail to score from the chances you have. We need to keep working to get back to winning ways.”

Brazil, which won against Chile and Peru in the previous two rounds, now has 17 points, temporarily sitting in third place until the remaining matches of the round are completed. Meanwhile, Venezuela, which failed to secure a win for the seventh consecutive match, reached 12 points and remains in seventh place. Brazil, which holds the record for the most World Cup titles with 5 championships, will conclude its qualifiers in 2024 with a home match against Uruguay next week in round 12, while Venezuela will face Chile at home.