September 7 – Tonight world champions Argentina will embark on the long road to the 2026 World Cup taking on Ecuador with South America leading the way in qualifying.
Eight months after Lionel Messi and his team stormed to victory in dramatic fashion against France in the final of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the first global finals to be held in the Middle East, the defending champions kick off the qualification campaign for the 2026 tournament that the triumvirate of the United States, Mexico and Canada will stage in a 48-team format for the first time.
The expanded field means that South America is entitled to six automatic slots and that the region’s powerhouses have a clear pathway to the finals. Paraguay and Peru complete the first day of action before Colombia – Venezuela, Uruguay – Chile and Brazil – Bolivia take center stage on Friday. The final round of matches will take place in September 2025 when the middle-of-the-table teams will have established a hierarchy to claim the remaining slots as well as the one playoff ticket.
Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are all going through a transition phase.
The world champions could be faced with the prospect of losing their talisman before the 2026 tournament.
The Brazilians, who crashed out in the last eight in Doha, look to Fernando Diniz, an interim coach, to begin a rebuild but Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly waiting in the wings to step in sometime next year. Brazil maintain a proud record of having played in every single World Cup.
Marcelo Bielsa will seek to build his Uruguay team around Federico Valverde, Ronald Araju and Darwin Nunez. He is one of seven Argentine coaches in the qualifiers.
In the summer of 2024, the Copa America in the United States will interrupt the qualification campaign and offer those teams in dire straits a chance to regroup.
With the World Cup’s expansion, the slot allocation per confederation has increased.
The AFC will get 8.5 slots, CAF 9.5 slots, Concacaf 6.5 slots, OFC 1.5 slots and Europe 16 slots. However, with 6.5 slots up for grabs in South America, the intensity and battle for a coveted ticket in what was often the most competitive qualifying competition in the world will become more diluted.
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