Lautaro Martínez’s goal kept Argentina on track to qualify for the 2026 World Cup with a 1-0 win over Peru in a South American qualifier. On the other hand, the match played between Brazil and Uruguay in Salvador was a 1-1 draw. Federico Valverde scored the first goal for Uruguay. In contrast, Gerson equalized the score for Brazil.
Argentina are in first place in the South American qualifiers with 25 points from 12 matches. Uruguay is five points behind in second place. Ecuador and Colombia have 19 points each. Brazil is in fifth place with 18 points. Paraguay is two points behind. Six teams will qualify for the World Cup from this qualifying round. The seventh-ranked Bolivia team will play the international play-off. Venezuela is out of the qualifying race with 12 points, Chile with nine and Peru with seven.
Japan came close to making it to the Football World Cup for the eighth consecutive time by defeating China 3-1 in the match played in Xiamen (China). Australia, ranked second in the Asian Qualifiers, played out a 2-2 draw against Bahrain. Japan has 16 points from six matches and four matches of Group C are still to be played. Australia is in second place with seven points. Marcelino Ferdinand scored twice as Indonesia beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta.