5 Tips for Wednesday’s South American World Cup Qualifiers - 30/3/22

On Wednesday morning, Bolivia and Brazil go head to head in the South America World Cup qualifiers in a meeting of ninth against first in the standings.

Brazil have scored 36 goals in 16 qualifiers, whilst conceding just five times, whilst Bolivia have only managed to find the back of the net 23 times in 17 games, on top of leaking 38 goals, the worst record in South American qualifying.

The last two meetings between these two sides have resulted in comfortable victories for Brazil, as in the Copa America back in June 2019, Tite’s men recorded a 3-0 victory thanks to a Philippe Coutinho brace and an Everton Soares strike. When these two sides last met, the Selecao hammered Bolivia 5-0 in October 2020.

Chile and Uruguay face off in a battle of seventh and fourth in the standings, with the home side desperately needing a win in an attempt to catch fifth-placed Peru.

Two former Premier League stars that will be hoping to do well for their international teams in this fixture are Alexis Sanchez and Luis Suarez who now ply their trades at Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid.

Sanchez has scored 48 goals in 146 international caps for Chile and will be his side’s main source of inspiration as they look to grind out a positive result. The 32-year-old scored in his last meeting with Uruguay back in September 2020 in a 2-1 loss for his side.

Suarez’s international record stands at 67 goals in 131 appearances for Uruguay, with the 35-year-old scoring two of these in his last three matches against Venezuela and Paraguay.

Ecuador hosts Argentina in a match between two sides that have already qualified for the upcoming 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

As ever, Lionel Messi will be looking to put on a show for those that attend and watch the game, as the 34-year-old has scored 81 times in 159 matches for Argentina.

Messi has scored in his last two matches against Ecuador, firstly, in a 1-0 win back in September 2020, as well as scoring one and assisting twice in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Wednesday’s opponents in the quarter-finals of the Copa America in July last year.

Peru and Paraguay meet in what is set to be an intense encounter for the home side, who know that one slip up would present the likes of Colombia or Chile the chance to take fifth place in the group (play-off place).

When these two sides last met in South American World Cup qualifying back in October, the match resulted in a 2-2 draw at Paraguay, as Angel Romero’s brace was cancelled out by an Andre Carillo double.

However, the last time they faced off in Peru, the home side edged the match by a 1-0 scoreline, as Christian Cueva scored the only goal of the game after four minutes back in March 2019.

So far in qualifying, Peru have scored 17 and conceded just 22 times in 17 matches, whilst their opponents, Paraguay, have scored 12 times, seeing them as the worst goalscorers in the qualifying group.

The final tip on this list comes from Venezuela against Colombia where the visitors desperately need a win in their pursuit of fifth place in the standings.

Venezuela can’t qualify, as they have accumulated just 10 points from 17 games, whilst the away side trail Peru by just one point.

A player to look out for in this match is Liverpool winger Luis Diaz who has impressed in his short time at Anfield as far, scoring twice in six Premier League matches. The 25-year-old has a decent record for his country having fired in eight times across 34 appearances.

Diaz scored and assisted in Colombia’s last match which was a 3-0 victory over Bolivia on Friday night.