Argentina secured their place in the 2026 World Cup with a commanding 4-1 victory over Brazil in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, a result that capped a night of celebration for the reigning world champions.
Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, and Giuliano Simeone were on target for Argentina, who had already clinched their World Cup qualification earlier in the day thanks to Bolivia’s goalless draw with Uruguay.
This ensured a jubilant atmosphere at the Estadio Monumental long before the match kicked off, and Argentina wasted no time in delivering a spectacular performance.
The hosts got off to a fast start, with Atletico Madrid’s Alvarez opening the scoring in the sixth minute.
He latched onto a through ball from Thiago Almada and dinked a delicate finish past Brazil’s goalkeeper Bento. Six minutes later, Argentina doubled their lead when Chelsea’s Fernandez calmly slotted home after Brazil’s defense failed to clear a low cross.
Despite being overwhelmed by Argentina’s dominance, Brazil found a brief lifeline in the 26th minute.
A mistake by Cristian Romero saw him lose possession 25 yards from goal, allowing Mattheus Cunha to pounce and score past Emiliano Martinez to pull Brazil back to 2-1.
However, any hopes of a Brazilian resurgence were extinguished in the 37th minute when Mac Allister scored a stunning volley.
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Almada delivered another pinpoint pass into the area, and Mac Allister made no mistake, finding the net with a first-time strike to put Argentina 3-1 up.
The match was effectively sealed in the 71st minute when 22-year-old Giuliano Simeone, son of Argentine football legend Diego Simeone, scored a spectacular goal to make it 4-1. Simeone lashed a powerful shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle, sending the crowd into raptures and capping off a brilliant night for Argentina.
With this victory, Argentina secured their spot in the 2026 World Cup with four qualifying matches still to play.
The win keeps them at the top of the South American qualification standings with 31 points from 14 matches, ensuring one of the six automatic spots in the tournament. Brazil, meanwhile, sit in fourth place.
Elsewhere in South American qualifiers, Ecuador maintained their strong push for a World Cup berth with a goalless draw against Chile, keeping them second in the standings with 23 points, eight behind Argentina. Uruguay’s draw with Bolivia, coupled with Brazil’s heavy defeat, allowed them to leapfrog into third place on goal difference.
Colombia squandered the opportunity to close the gap on the top two after being held to a 2-2 draw by Paraguay.
Luis Diaz and Jhon Duran had put Colombia 2-0 up early, but Paraguay fought back with goals from Junior Alonso and Julio Enciso to earn a point.
Venezuela kept their slim hopes of a World Cup debut alive with a crucial 1-0 win over Peru.
A first-half penalty from Salomon Rondon was enough to secure the victory, lifting Venezuela into seventh place in the table and putting them in line for an inter-confederation playoff spot.
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