World Cup 2022: Brazil, Argentina carry South American hopes for a title in Qatar
By David Mosse
FOX Sports Soccer Researcher
Editor's note: The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar begins Nov. 21, 2022, only on FOX networks. All this week, we'll have stories and videos counting down to the one-year-out mark.
Brazil and Argentina, not surprisingly, were the first two South American nations to secure spots for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Both crossed the finish line during this week's qualifying window. The two teams remain unbeaten in qualifying after their tense scoreless draw Tuesday night, a clash that always figured to disappoint with Neymar absent because of injury and Lionel Messi well short of match fitness.
The result did stretch Argentina’s unbeaten run to 27 games. They haven’t lost since a 2-0 defeat to Brazil at the 2019 Copa America semis. Brazil have lost just once in their past 21 games, a 1-0 defeat to Argentina in this past summer’s Copa America final.
The numbers make for impressive reading, and the pedigree of the two countries ensures they’ll be included on any list of contenders in Qatar. But the big question is whether either one is truly good enough to put an end to Europe’s recent World Cup dominance, which has seen UEFA produce the past four world champions and all four semifinalists in 2018.
Complicating that assessment is the fact that, given the advent of the Nations League and disappearance of the Confederations Cup, regions are walled off from one another like never before. When Brazil and Argentina come up against European opposition in Qatar, it will be their first meaningful test against non-South American opponents since the knockout stage of the 2018 World Cup.
The two Conmebol giants do have reasons for optimism.
Emiliano Martinez is Argentina’s best goalkeeper in years, and Cristian Romero has shown himself to be more than capable of anchoring the back line. Messi has struck up interesting partnerships with midfielders Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo De Paul. Striker Lautaro Martinez continues to get better, while Angel Di Maria has reestablished himself as the Scottie Pippen to Messi’s Michael Jordan.
Brazil boast arguably the best defense in international football, with Thiago Silva facing a battle to hold off Eder Militao for a starting spot. Fabinho, who was outstanding against Argentina on Tuesday, could also apply pressure to Casemiro in the midfield pivot role. And the emergence of talented wingers Raphinha, Antony and Vinicius Junior has finally taken some of the creative load off of Neymar’s shoulders.
Argentina and Brazil are South America’s only realistic hopes for a first World Cup title since 2002. It remains to be seen if either can topple Europe’s elite in Qatar, but after this last international break, we at least know for sure that both will be there to find out.
Here are some additional news and notes from South American qualifying:
Uruguay in peril
One country whose presence in Qatar is very much in doubt is Uruguay, thanks to a disastrous run of results. La Celeste have collected just one point from the past five games, dropping to seventh in the standings (with only the top-four qualifying automatically).
Uruguay's latest defeat, a 3-0 loss to Bolivia, likely spells the end for manager Oscar Tabarez, who was nearly sacked after the previous international break.
If Tabarez is indeed let go, it would represent an unceremonious end to a remarkable 15-year spell in charge, which has included guiding Uruguay to the knockout stage of the past three World Cups. But change is sorely needed, and Diego Aguirre, currently managing Brazilian club Internacional, is reportedly being lined up as a replacement.
Colombia lacking pop
Colombia are somehow clinging to the last automatic qualification spot, despite a mind-boggling scoring drought, which reached 466 minutes after Tuesday’s 0-0 home draw with Paraguay.
The saving grace is that Reinaldo Rueda’s ultra-pragmatic approach has made Los Cafeteros difficult to score against. They’ve conceded only one goal in the past five games.
Colombia have a relatively easy remaining schedule, but to finish above the line, Rueda must get more out of the attacking talents at his disposal. That list includes Duvan Zapata, Luis Muriel, Luis Diaz, Juan Cuadrado and, once again, James Rodriguez, who was brought back into the fold this month.
Key win for Ecuador
Arturo Vidal likes to live on the edge, but he did his country no favors with a ridiculous red card just 13 minutes into Tuesday’s home match against Ecuador. Vidal was sent off for a boot to the face of Felix Torres. Chile, already down 1-0 at that point, succumbed to a 2-0 defeat, the goals courtesy of Pervis Estupinan and promising young midfielder Moises Caicedo.
La Roja had won their previous three games, but this result halts all their recent momentum. It also represents a massive boost to Ecuador, who are now comfortably in third place, six points ahead of the rest of the pack.
It would take a major collapse for them to miss out on the World Cup.
Peru right in the mix
Peru had a terrible start to this qualifying campaign, but wins over Bolivia and Venezuela in this past window have them very much in contention for a World Cup spot. In fact, if qualifying ended today, they would be the playoff team, which is the path they took to reach Russia in 2018 for their first World Cup appearance in 36 years.
The lesson, as always, is never count out Ricardo Gareca, the manager who guided Peru to the previous World Cup and to the semifinals or better in three of the past four Copa Americas.
David Mosse is a soccer researcher and writer for FOX Sports. He has covered multiple FIFA World Cups, and he also serves as co-host of Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast.