Paris Saint Germain forward, Lionel Messi has helped his country, Argentina, to qualify for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup without losing a game.
The Argentine side confirmed their place in the prestigious football tournament this morning, November 17, 2021, after a 0-0 draw with Brazil.
The draw would not have been enough for Argentina to grab a World Cup ticket if Ecuador had not defeated Chile 2-0 away from home and if Uruguay had not recorded a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Bolivia earlier today.
As it stands, Brazil have confirmed their World Cup ticket as they currently topping the South America group of 10 countries with 35 points in 13 games.
The South America giants that lost the 2021 Copa America to Argentina earlier in the year, have not recorded a defeat throughout the World Cup qualification series. They have recorded 11 wins and 2 draws so far.
On the other hand, Argentina that are the reigning Copa America champions are sitting on the second spot on the qualification table. They have garnered 29 points in 13 games which are enough points to give them an automatic World Cup ticket.
Lionel Messi and his teammates garnered the points and qualified for the football tournament after recording 8 wins and 5 draws. The Argentine side is yet to record a defeat in 27 matches.
Brazil vs Argentina match played earlier today was a rescheduled game. The match was postponed in September when health workers stormed the pitch to prevent some of Argentina’s Premier League players from playing due to a breach of coronavirus protocol.
Lionel Messi who has been battling with fitness issues since late October was almost a doubt ahead of the rescheduled qualifier but was fit enough to play the game. However, he could not do much to change the outcome of the match.
Now that Argentina and Brazil have confirmed their spot in the forthcoming football tournament, South America has 2.5 teams left to produce for the tournament. This means that there are still two automatic tickets up for grabs and one ticket that could be earned via an intercontinental playoff.
Based on the current standing of the South America qualifier table, Ecuador looks like the most likely team that would earn an automatic ticket. They are currently sitting on the 3rd spot with 23 points in 14 games.
The other two teams that are also likely to scale through are 4th placed Columbia with 17 points in 14 games and 5th placed Peru with 17 points in 14 games.
The next two rounds of fixtures will take place in January and February 2022.
Argentina in the World Cup Qualifiers:
— MC (@CrewsMat10) November 17, 2021
Games: 13
Games vs Top 25 ranked nations: 7
Points dropped: 10
Status: Qualified ✅
Portugal in the World Cup Qualifiers:
Games: 8
Games vs Top 25 ranked nations: 0
Points dropped: 7
Status: Sent to the shops ❌ https://t.co/lyMlrhwRO7
