South America looks forward to the world: The trend of Argentina's dark horse is difficult to continue[yuyi]

Beijing time on March 21, the World Cup South American qualifying war reignited, 10 teams will experience March, June, September three stages of the game, March South America will usher in two rounds of competition, of which Argentina and Brazil will be the focus of this stage of the battle.

There are 10 teams participating in the South American qualifiers of the World Cup, and the ten teams are in the double cycle competition. The overall front is very long, requiring 18 rounds of competition. Opened in September 2023, the tournament has so far completed 12 rounds, and the next 10 teams will go through three stages in March, June and September, with two rounds of competition in each stage.

The 2026 USCAN-Mexico World Cup expanded to 48 teams, with the South American zone receiving 6.5 places, six of which qualified directly, and the seventh place through the play-offs. According to the current standings, Argentina ranks first with 25 points, Uruguay ranks second with 20 points, and Ecuador ranks third with 19 points, among which, due to the issue of Castillo's nationality, Ecuador was awarded by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to split the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with -3 points.

Argentina is undoubtedly the leader of this South American World Cup, currently ranked first with 25 points, 5 points ahead of the second place, 12 points ahead of the seventh place Bolivia, the promotion situation is very optimistic. Whether in terms of strength or experience, Argentina is the leader in South America, especially in Brazil's gradual performance in recent years.

Although it has a huge advantage in points, the two matches at this stage are more important for Argentina, they are against the second place Uruguay and the old strong team Brazil. Unfortunately, according to the latest squad, Messi and Dybala are absent due to injury, and will not be able to play the two World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay on March 22 and Brazil on March 26 ‌. It might affect the team a little bit.

Uruguay is currently ranked second in the standings with 20 points, they have excellent strength, risk restructuring after Su Ya retired, Nunez and other new stars have emerged, in the previous game has also won 2-0 away Argentina, 1-1 away draw Brazil, 3-2 home win Colombia, it can be said that the team is full of resilience, Perhaps the biggest obstacle to Argentina's top spot.

Ecuador was judged by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to start the 2026 World Cup qualifier with -3 points, there are still 19 points after the reduction, and the promotion situation is also quite optimistic. In addition, they have a unique highland home advantage, this stage at home against the weak Venezuela, away from Chile in recent years, the strength of the serious decline, it can be said that this stage is their chance to grab points.

Colombia has been a dark horse in recent years, beating Ecuador away and drawing Brazil are very bright, but the front line is too dependent on veteran Falcao, and the stability of young players still needs to be improved. Unfortunately, this stage they will be the first to play Brazil, in the past 13 games of the same host, only 1 win the opponent, the other game at home against Paraguay, and Brazil and Paraguay are on the edge of the standings, grab points will be stronger.

Second tier: Brazil, Paraguay

Brazil does not lack of stars, but in recent years, the performance can only be said to be poor, the latest squad, Neymar, Edson, Danilo have withdrawn, the offensive side also relies on Vinicius, Rodrigo and others, the stability of the lineup is still affected. At present, they rank 5th with 18 points, 5 points ahead of 7th place, and they need to strive to grab points if they want to stabilize the direct ticket. They have to play Colombia at home and Argentina away at this stage, and it is not easy to grab points.

Paraguay currently ranks sixth with 17 points, four points ahead of seventh place, and the intention to grab points should be very strong. However, their strength is limited, they can only occasionally create some bright performances, such as beating Argentina and Brazil, but the overall win rate is generally good, but their draw rate is higher, which is related to their defensive counterattack.

The third tier: Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru

Chile performed very poorly in this qualifying tournament, so far only nine points. After the retirement of the golden generation, they are in a state of youth as a whole, and the new generation of players still need to run in and improve stability.

Venezuela and Bolivia are in a much more optimistic position in the table than Chile, with 12 and 13 points respectively in 7th and 8th place, although there is still a certain gap between the top six straight qualification, but the fight for a seventh place play-off qualification is still very competitive. In addition, Bolivia has not played in the World Cup since 1994, and Venezuela has never played in the World Cup, and it would be progress for either team to take a step forward.

Peru, whether in terms of performance, strength or position in the table, is a running point, 10 points away from the sixth place, they have a slim chance of appearing.