Key occasions
Preamble
Welcome to a vital World Cup qualifier between first-place Argentina and fifth-place Brazil, the place …
… wait … do the standings matter?
CONMEBOL, the South American federation, has the only and fairest qualification system. No comparisons of runners-up throughout disparate teams. No draw that creates a “Group of Dying.” No “playoff to get into the group stage that determines who goes to the playoff.”
Ten groups. Double round-robin. That’s it.
It’s a good format. It’s additionally fairly forgiving.
So Brazil are at present in fifth place, wanting up not solely at everlasting rival Argentina and traditionally achieved nations equivalent to Uruguay and Colombia but additionally at Venezuela. If not for a three-point penalty to Ecuador, Brazil could be trailing them, too.
And they might nonetheless be heading in the right direction to qualify for the following World Cup, which can embrace a mind-boggling 48 groups.
Even when issues have been actually horrific, Brazil would have almost two years to repair the issue(s). The final video games on this competitors are in September 2025.
So should you’re simply tuning in to see Messi and Neymar with out taking note of the standings, you could be forgiven. After tonight, we’ll be one-third of the way in which by way of our 18 rounds. Then in a few years, if the Earth remains to be intact, Argentina will certainly be within the World Cup, and Brazil will nearly positively be there as properly.
Take pleasure in this sport for what it’s – a bit extra significant than a pleasant, a bit much less significant than a Copa America or World Cup elimination sport.
Beau will probably be right here shortly. Within the meantime, right here’s extra on a sure Lionel Messi’s function in tonight’s sport:
Lionel Messi has felt many alternative feelings on the Maracanã. It was within the iconic Brazilian stadium that he suffered his largest profession defeat: the 2014 World Cup final. The loss introduced robust criticism that shook the Argentina talisman for years. Nevertheless it was additionally in Rio that he won the Copa América in 2021, his first title for the nationwide workforce and which paved the way in which for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Two years after profitable the South American title, Messi returns to the Maracanã on Tuesday for a World Cup qualifier on the good second. Going through a Brazil in disaster, misplaced and stuffed with instability since their elimination in Qatar, Messi may have his remaining coronation, with the popularity and applause of the rival followers in what is among the best classics in world soccer.
“It might be an achievement for Messi to be cheered in Brazil. It’s a sport on the Maracanã, a world basic sport,” says the previous Brazil left-back Adriano, who performed with Messi between 2010 and 2016 at Barcelona.
“I’d approve if it occurred. It might actually honour his profession. It might be historic. Although he’s Argentinian, it’s recognition for what he represents to world soccer.”
