The World Cup 2026 CONMEBOL qualifiers have seen a radical shift in the standings after the 12th matchday, as the teams behind frontrunners Argentina have switched places.
Uruguay and Ecuador are now behind La Albiceleste after they took advantage of Colombia’s recent skid. Brazil slipped to fifth place after notching back-to-back draws.
Paraguay, only one point behind Brazil, are holding on to the sixth spot. The battle for the sole inter-confederation play-off spot is heating up between seventh-seeded Bolivia and eighth-placed Venezuela.
Chile and Peru will unlikely make it to the quadrennial meet, according to the World Cup 2026 odds. La Roja and Los Incas are the cellar dwellers at ninth and 10th place, respectively.
Now that the 12th matchday is over, SBOTOP is here to review the key takeaways from the latest World Cup 2026 results.
Valencia spearheads Ecuador’s upset win over Colombia
Ecuador have moved up to third place because they’ve gone undefeated in their last five games, including last night’s 1-0 result against Colombia.
Enner Valencia converted the only goal of the match in the seventh minute with a superb solo effort, breaking away from three Colombian defenders before finding the back of the net to the delight of the home crowd.
Colombia striker Jhon Cordoba then missed a golden opportunity to level the score. James Rodriguez found Cordoba inside the five-yard box, but the latter was off balance and missed from point blank range.
After the sorry miss, Cordoba made his biggest impact on the match during the 34th minute, reducing Ecuador to 10 men. The Krasnodar striker raced past goalkeeper Hernan Galindez before going down after a tackle from Piero Hincapie, who was sent off after a lengthy VAR review.
Ecuador’s backline was in for a long night as Colombia aggressively hunted goals. Hernan Galindez frustrated Colombia with his key saves against Jhon Cordoba and Jhon Duran.
This win for Ecuador is huge since they have leapfrogged Colombia in the table, despite being level at 19 points each.
La Tri are determined to make their third World Cup appearance in their last four attempts, especially after a lacklustre performance during the 2022 edition in Qatar.
With six matchdays left, Sebastian Beccacece’s men still have a long way to go.
Brazil continue to be wasteful
Brazil seemed on their way to make it back at the top of the CONMEBOL table after securing momentum-boosting wins over Chile and Peru last month, but they reverted back to the subpar form this international break.
Dorival Junior’s side notched 1-1 draws against Venezuela and Uruguay, and many argue they should’ve won against Venezuela.
Raphinha gave Brazil a one-goal lead before halftime, but the Samba Boyz quickly conceded a goal from Telasco Segovia in the second half.
Vinicius Jr. had the golden opportunity to put Brazil back in the driver’s seat when he was fouled inside the box by goalkeeper Rafael Romo in the 62nd minute, but the Real Madrid winger muffed his penalty and putback attempt.
Against Uruguay, Brazil dominated the first half but couldn’t convert a single attempt, and they even trailed by one goal when Fede Valverde scored in the 55th minute.
Fortunately for the Samba Boyz, Gerson struck from outside the penalty area after a poor clearance in the 62nd minute to draw level.
Brazil pushed for a winner, but late efforts from Luiz Henrique and Raphinha went wide, and the home fans booed them at the final whistle.
Despite their subpar results, Dorival Junior is adamant that his team is making progress here in the qualifiers. However, football is a results business, and Brazil must do better come the next international break.
Martinez in fine form for Argentina
Argentina are still comfortable at the top of the standings because of Lautaro Martinez’s goalscoring form.
The Inter Milan striker has scored three goals in his last three appearances for La Albiceleste. With his second half goal against Peru, Martinez etched his name into Argentina’s history books.
With 32 international goals, Martinez is level with the late Diego Maradona in fifth place in Argentina’s all-time scoring list. The 27-year-old can easily surpass one of the GOATs in the next few matchdays.
Lautaro Martinez also scored his 11th international goal of 2024, making him only the third man to eclipse 10 goals for La Albiceleste in a calendar year after Gabriel Batistuta (12 in 1998) and Lionel Messi (12 in 2012 and 18 in 2022).
Argentina’s defence also deserves a shoutout because they’ve not conceded a goal in 10 of their last 11 home games in the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
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