With a brace, Lionel Messi leads Argentina to victory against Peru. Brazil, on the other hand, loses and Neymar seriously injures his knee.
World champion Argentina is still confident in the World Cup qualification and celebrated its fourth win in its fourth game thanks to double goalscorer Lionel Messi (32nd/42nd minute). It was 2-0 (2-0) against Peru.
Messi played through after last playing for his club Inter Miami was still missing and only came on as a substitute in the 1-0 win against Paraguay on Thursday.
Brazil loses, Neymar suffers cruciate ligament tear
Brazil, on the other hand, remained unsuccessful in their second game in a row and, in addition to their first defeat, also had to cope with an injury to Neymar. Shortly after conceding the first goal, the superstar was injured before half-time in the 0-2 (0-1) draw against Uruguay on Tuesday evening (local time). The devastating diagnosis came almost 24 hours later: the Brazilian star suffered a torn cruciate ligament.
When he was driven off the pitch, the 31-year-old hid his face under both hands and later left the stadium in Montevideo on crutches.
After clinical and imaging tests, Brazil’s association announced the shock diagnosis a little later: Neymar’s anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee was torn, as was his meniscus.
Team doctor: Too early for a diagnosis
Brazil had only recently played 1-1 against Venezuela, and Neymar had to put up with significant criticism for his performance. In the table, Uruguay moved past to second place. Brazil and Venezuela follow in third and fourth place after a 3-0 win against Chile with seven points. Argentina continues to be at the top.
This is how World Cup qualification works
The best six teams The South American qualifiers are allowed to go to the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The seventh-placed team still has the chance to advance to the intercontinental event, which is taking place for the first time playoffstournament in March 2026. The last two World Cup starting places will be awarded there, and all continents except Europe are represented.
For the first time, 48 teams will take part in the mega World Cup from June 11th to July 19th instead of the previous 32. In Europe, the qualifying games will take place from March to November 2025. The twelve group winners qualify directly for the final round. The group runners-up and the four best-placed group winners Nations League 2024/25, who are not in the top two places of their group in qualifying, will play a continental in March 2026 playoffs-Tournament for the remaining four World Cup tickets.
