The Argentine team overcame the Brazilian team 4:1 in a match from the 14th round of the qualifying cycle for the 2026 World Cup in the CONMEBOL zone, sportal.bg reported.
The hosts took the lead in the score with an early goal by Julian Alvarez (5'), and very soon Enzo Fernandez (12') doubled the lead of the world champions. After half-time, the Brazilians raised their heads for the first time and managed to pull one back through Mateus Cunha (27').
The guests' awakening was only a momentary flash and before the break, Alexis Mc Allister (37') scored a third goal for the "albisilest".
In the second half, the penalty shootout continued and Lionel Scaloni's students reached a fourth goal, which was scored by Giuliano Simeone (71').
Thus, the Argentine national team will play the remaining four matches of the qualifiers for next year's World Cup in North America for the record, since even before the start of the match it was clear that the winners of the 2024 Copa America will go to the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada. They also have an eight-point lead over second-placed Ecuador and are likely to finish top of South America's only qualifying group.
Lionel Scaloni went into the last two qualifying matches without his big stars Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Paulo Dybala and Angel di Maria, which gave their rivals hope that they could snatch valuable points. However, Uruguay hit a snag, with the world champions ready to show that they could also crush their eternal rival with players like their iron goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and outfield players Enzo Fernandez, Rodrigo de Paul and Julián Alvarez, who have continued to shine for their club teams this season.
Dorvial Junior tried to resist with the best they could count on, which was no small feat. Mariquinhos from French hegemon Paris Saint-Germain came out with the captain's armband, in front of him was the Carabao Cup winner with Newcastle Joelitton, and up front were to shine significant names from La Liga such as Barcelona and Real Madrid players - Rafinha, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior.
Even before the first referee's signal at "Monumental" in Buenos Aires, the mood was uplifted, as it was already clear that Argentina would certainly go to the world football finals in North America in 2026. This became a fact after the teams of Bolivia and Uruguay drew 0-0 and mathematically guaranteed another participation of the "albicileste" in the World Cup.
The world champions blew up the "Monumental" stadium with a goal by Julian Alvarez in the 5th minute. The goal also came after a certain amount of luck due to a goalkeeping error by Bento Krepski.
Just seven minutes later, the visitors broke through again and Enzo Fernandez doubled his team's lead. Like the first goal, this one also came after a glaring mistake by the Brazilian defense, which was literally pushed into its own penalty area and a ridiculous ricochet sent the ball to the feet of the goal scorer, who jumped out on the edge of the small penalty area and shot the opponent's goalkeeper absolutely unperturbed.
With time, the Brazilians managed to overcome the initial shock and, after gathering their composure, tried to find their way to the opponent's goal. Thus, in the middle of the half, Vinicius Junior made two individual moves with which he wanted to make it difficult for Emiliano Martinez, but the experienced Aston Villa goalkeeper deceived the Real Madrid star.
In the next attempt, the defenders of the "albisileste" showed that they can also make mistakes and gave the opponent a situation, which Cunha took advantage of and reduced his team's deficit.
The goal inspired the five-time world champions and they tried to quickly equalize, with Vinicius Junior often at the center of events again, who first made a dangerous breakthrough in the Argentine half, then looked for his teammate in the penalty area with a treacherous cross.
Of course, this opened up the visitors' half and Lionel Scaloni's men in turn organized new dangerous attacks. In the 37th minute, Krepski had to intervene and save Almada's powerful shot in the top left corner, clearing it for a corner.
At the corner kick, the inevitable happened and the hosts scored a third goal. A short delivery led to a swift and sustained siege of the Brazilian penalty area, with the defenders in yellow and green sportswear once again cracking and Enzo Fernandez managing to add his name to the list of players who provided assists, helping Alexis McAllister score.
The fourth goal of the match also led to the long-awaited moment when passions heated up and we briefly witnessed clashes between the two camps. They were not only part of the usual sights on South American pitches, where sparks often fly, but also appeared as a continuation of the skirmishes from the days before the match between Argentina and Brazil.
However, the main referee of the match, Andrés Rojas, decided not to give room for even more serious inflaming of passions and quickly calmed the players down, showing two yellow cards to Argentine players (Nicolas Tayafico, Thiago Almada) and one to a Brazilian player (Rafinha).
This did not create the conditions for a long extension of the first half, as only two additional minutes were played, after which the current world champions fully deservedly withdrew with a two-goal lead.
After the break, the hosts continued to create the better chances and only four minutes after the resumption of play, Alvarez forced Krepski to clear for a corner again. This time, however, the goal was not scored after the execution and the Brazilians remained in the match.
About ten minutes later, Nicolas Tayafico also missed a good opportunity to decide the match with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, which went just over the crossbar.
After that, as expected, the opponents slowed down and began to create goal opportunities less often, as the first signs of fatigue appeared.
This situation was again in favor of Scaloni's students, who, twenty minutes before the end of regular time, struck a fourth slap on their opponent, knocking him out and forcing him to simply wait out the rest of the match, since a three-goal difference was already too steep a mountain to climb. This time, the author of the third goal, Mac Allister, intervened, finding his teammate Giuliano Simeone in the penalty area, and he thanked him in the most appropriate way, punishing Bento Krepski once again.
Six minutes after the restart, Rafinha hit the crossbar and failed to reduce the "seleção" deficit, and four minutes later Krepski saved his goal from a powerful shot by Paredes.
These were generally the last real scoring situations in regular time, and the final minutes turned into duels and rough tackles, which led to new cards. So in "yellow" Enzo Fernandez from the hosts and Endrik from the visitors were marked.