South America finishes World Cup qualifying with six teams qualified.

Once considered the toughest qualifying rounds in the world, the South American national teams' qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada ended this Tuesday with Bolivia's historic qualification to the playoffs as the only dramatic element. Even before the eighteenth and final matchday of a very long road, which began in September 2023, Argentina (leading with 38 points), Ecuador (second with 29), and Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, and Paraguay (all with 28) had secured the six direct tickets, out of 10 participants, to the first World Cup with 48 countries.

Already behind the seventh, Bolivia (20), which will play its ticket to the World Cup in March 2026 in a mini tournament in Mexico, Venezuela (18), Peru (12) and Chile (11) were left out of that 60% direct chance of qualifying for the World Cup and 70% if the play-offs are added. With Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay as co-organizers of a match for the 2030 World Cup, to be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco - and therefore, it is assumed, automatically qualified -, it is still not clear how CONMEBOL will organize the qualification for the centenary World Cup.

Bolivia took advantage of Venezuela's resounding defeat to Colombia and fulfilled its duties. At the 4,095-meter El Alto stadium, the second-highest stadium in the world (even higher than La Paz), they defeated an alternative Brazilian team 1-0, albeit with stars like Richarlison, Lucas Paquetá, Raphina, and Estevao, and jumped to seventh place, which secured them a place in the playoffs. The goal was scored by Miguel Terceros, a penalty kick, following a highly controversial VAR call.

The Bolivian national team, which moved from the 3,600-meter stadium in La Paz to its brand-new stadium in El Alto, on the outskirts of the capital, midway through the tournament, redoubled its hopes of qualifying for a World Cup for the second time in its history. The only time it has qualified, so far, was also for a World Cup in the United States, in 1994. It's true that Bolivia also played in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, but there were no qualifying rounds back then.

The format of the playoff Bolivia will play this time for the 2026 World Cup will be different from the one used until now. Six countries from different conferences (two from Central America and the Caribbean and one from South America (Bolivia), Asia, Africa, and Oceania (New Caledonia)) will face off in Guadalajara and Monterrey in March 2026 for the last two World Cup spots.

Beyond Colombia's 6-3 thrashing of Venezuela and Bolivia's 1-0 victory over Brazil, the only two matches on Tuesday in which seventh place was at stake, the qualifiers were also closed out by three matches in which points no longer mattered: Ecuador beat Argentina 1-0 in Guayaquil without Lionel Messi, Paraguay defeated Peru 1-0 in Lima, and Chile and Uruguay tied 0-0.

Curiously , Messi, in his sixth and final qualifying round (he debuted in 2005), was the tournament's top scorer for the first time, with eight goals in 12 of the 18 matches. Although he hasn't confirmed whether he'll play in the World Cup or not, the Inter Miami player will almost certainly participate in what will be his sixth World Cup, a record that has yet to be achieved and one that Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo is also seeking.

Among the qualifiers, the qualifiers left Argentina, world champions and two-time Americas champions, sweeping the World Cup qualification race. It's the first time they've led this race since 2002, as it always was Brazil, a reborn team under Carlo Ancelotti, starting in 2006. Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay recovered from a loss of momentum midway through the match, while Luis Díaz and James Rodríguez's Colombia started sluggishly and seemed to run out of steam before their final rout. Both teams join Ecuador, which recovered from a three-point deficit due to a suspension from the previous tournament, and Paraguay, which righted its course with the arrival of Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro.

With Messi now in the final stages of his career—he'll turn 39 during the World Cup—Lionel Scaloni began making moves for an inevitable replacement. In the final 28 minutes of the night in Guayaquil, for example, Franco Mastantuono, the 18-year-old youngster and Real Madrid signing, returned to playing time for the first time wearing Argentina's iconic number 10 jersey.

The defeat in El Alto doesn't change the direction Ancelotti has found since taking over last May, leading a Brazil in crisis. The first foreign coach in the history of the five-time world champion has so far dispensed with Neymar, waiting for the number 10 to find his best form at Santos.

Just as Paraguay will return to the World Cup after a 16-year absence and Colombia after an eight-year absence, Ecuador and Uruguay will repeat their participation in Qatar 2022. For La Celeste, it will also be their fifth consecutive World Cup. All four countries are led by Argentine coaches: in addition to Bielsa and Alfaro in Uruguay and Paraguay, respectively, Néstor Lorenzo led Colombia and Sebastián Becaccece, Ecuador.

Beyond Venezuela's pain at the last minute, Peru and Chile were the two teams with the most resounding failures. In La Roja's case, it was also the third consecutive failure: their last World Cup qualification was in Brazil 2014. This time, they couldn't even make it in the easiest qualifying rounds in South American history.