Argentina beats Chile comfortably, Bolivia sweeps Venezuela in World Cup qualification

Text size

Alexis Mac Allister, Julian Alvarez and Paulo Dybala scored as Argentina consolidated their lead in South American qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a 3-0 win against Chile on Thursday.

Liverpool midfielder Mac Allister equalised with a low shot three minutes after half-time against a defensive Chilean side at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.

Former Manchester City striker Alvarez doubled the lead in the 84th minute with a powerful shot from outside the box before substitute Dybala sealed the win with a late goal in injury time.

It was another comfortable win for the reigning world champions, who are now well on their way to securing their place in the 2026 finals, which will be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada.

Lionel Scaloni’s team leads the table of the ten-team round-robin qualification in South America by five points after seven games.

The best six teams in the final table automatically qualify for the 2026 finals in North America. The seventh-placed team goes into the playoffs.

Argentina, which also beat Chile 1-0 en route to a second consecutive Copa America title this year, was without injured captain Lionel Messi and experienced winger Angel Di Maria, who retired from the national team following the Copa America triumph in July, for Thursday’s match.

Di Maria was feted by his former teammates at a pre-match ceremony before taking his seat in the stands to watch the world champions secure their sixth win in seven qualifying matches.

Despite the absence of Messi and Di Maria, Argentina had plenty of creative finesse in attack, with Atletico Madrid’s Lautaro Martinez and Alvarez causing problems for the Chilean defense.

Argentina, meanwhile, controlled the midfield, with Mac Allister lining up alongside Rodrigo De Paul and Enzo Fernandez.

After a cautious first half, the breakthrough came in the 48th minute when Alvarez delivered a low cross from the right.

Martinez cleverly feinted and let the ball roll through to Mac Allister, who directed a precise shot into the bottom corner.

In Thursday’s other qualifier, Bolivia revived its campaign with a 4-0 win over Venezuela at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters above sea level.

Goals from Ramiro Vaca, Carmelo Algaranaz, Miguel Terceros and Enzo Monteiro gave Bolivia only its second victory in qualifying and catapulted the team to seventh place in the table.

The result justified Bolivia’s decision to play Thursday’s match in El Alto – Spanish for “the height” – rather than at their usual home stadium in neighboring La Paz, which lies 3,600 meters above sea level.

The thin air in El Alto clearly left the Venezuelan players lacking energy as they faced a Bolivian team seeking to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since reaching the finals in the United States in 1994.

Despite his team’s heavy defeat, Venezuela’s coach Fernando Batista did not want to dwell on the altitude after the game.

“Out of ten questions, eight are about the height,” said Batista. “You won’t hear anything from me on that.”

Vaca scored Bolivia’s most beautiful goal after just 13 minutes.

The 25-year-old midfielder received the ball around 27 metres from the goal, cut in from the left and fired a powerful shot that flew into the top corner.

Venezuela is the only South American team that has never qualified for a World Cup and, despite Thursday’s defeat, still has a good chance of reaching the finals.

With nine points from seven games, “Vinotinto” is in fourth place in the table, behind Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia.

Venezuela hosts Uruguay next Tuesday in its eighth qualifying match.

South America’s qualifying matches continue on Friday: Second-placed Uruguay hosts Paraguay in Montevideo, while struggling Brazil, eleven points behind leaders Argentina in sixth place, face Ecuador in Curitiba.

Meanwhile, third-placed Colombia travels to Lima to face bottom-placed Peru.