Qualifying matches for the 2026 Soccer Cup – Telemundo 52

Qualifying matches for the 2026 Soccer Cup – Telemundo 52
Qualifying matches for the 2026 Soccer World Cup – Telemundo 52

CARACAS — This Thursday, several matches will be played for the 2026 Cup qualifiers, which will be played on fields in the United States, and Canada.

, absolute leader in its group, will face Venezuela in Caracas while Ecuador will host Paraguay, among other matches.

ARGENTINA FACES VENEZUELA IN CARACAS

With Lionel Messi back after missing the two previous dates due to injury, Argentina aims to forget its defeat against Colombia and resume its victory on Thursday when it faces Venezuela at home on the ninth date of the South American qualifier for the 2026 World Cup.

Messi, 37, missed the last two qualifying dates for the 2026 World Cup due to an ankle ligament injury he suffered in the Copa América final against Colombia in mid-July.

At the end of August, after six weeks of inactivity, Messi returned to the Inter Miami discipline and in the games he played since receiving the medical discharge he was seen in good shape.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner “is fine,” said coach Lionel Scaloni the day before. He was not present in the last two games so as not to force his return to the national team, but now “Leo is training alongside the group and is going to be part of the team that plays against Venezuela”, an opponent that the Argentine strategist takes into consideration. Serious.

Venezuela is “a rival to take into account, respected. We are going to face the game as it deserves,” said Scaloni.

Venezuela, the only South American team that has never played in a World Cup, occupies sixth place with 10 points on its account, similar to Brazil, which occupies fifth position, which accumulates a better goal difference.

Argentina is the leader with 18 points, followed by Colombia, which climbed to second place after beating the Albiceleste 2-1. Ecuador is fourth with 11 points, after beating Peru 1-0.

The first six will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the seventh must compete in a playoff against a rival from another confederation.

Although Messi’s return is a cause for joy, Argentina’s journey on this occasion has by far not been a bed of roses.

The Albiceleste handed the Brazilian team the third defeat in a row in these South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

The albiceleste – which will receive Bolivia, five days later, at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires – saw its preparation plans affected by logistical problems to travel to Venezuela due to the suspension of direct flights between Caracas and the Argentine and American territories due to the tensions between the governments of those countries and the administration of the Venezuelan president. And at the last minute the effects of Hurricane Milton in Florida were added.

Due to a question of distance and in order to avoid the wear and tear of so many hours of flying, the coaching staff moved the preparation of its players, most of them from clubs in Europe, from Buenos Aires to the Inter Miami complex in that American city.

Scaloni requested to carry out the transfer of the team on Tuesday, but the US authorities ruled out that possibility due to Hurricane Milton. The helmsman hinted that the match could be postponed if Argentina cannot leave Miami on Wednesday as planned.

Among other obstacles, Argentina also blames the absences of forwards Paulo Dybala, Nicolás González and Alejandro Garnacho and full-back Marcos Acuña due to physical discomfort.

Venezuela, meanwhile, will seek to maintain its undefeated streak as home team in the tie, which includes goalless draws against Ecuador and Uruguay, and 1-0 and 3-0 wins against Paraguay and Chile, respectively.

This objective can be achieved to the extent that his team manages to make it an “uncomfortable match” for Messi and his companions.

Among his assets, Batista will have midfielder Yangel Herrera, from Girona in Spain, who was sidelined due to injury in the previous call-up.

Against Argentina, Venezuela will not have midfielder Cristian Cásseres or defender Miguel Navarro due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

After facing Argentina, Vinotinto will face Paraguay at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción.

ECUADOR RECEIVES PARAGUAY

A duel with a taste of nostalgia will be experienced this Thursday in Quito by the Paraguay coach, Gustavo Alfaro, in the reunion with Ecuador for the ninth round of the World Cup qualifiers, this time as a rival of the team he commanded for two years.

“I do have a very great gratitude towards the Ecuadorian people, towards the players, it is a pleasure to be here” and “they will always be missed,” the Argentine strategist had responded the day before in an approach to the press.

“Ecuador has a great team and Paraguay too, it’s going to be a very nice game,” declared Alfaro, who has been training in Quito for four days with the Guaraní team, in a bid to acclimatize to the height of the city, 9,100 feet above the sea ​​level.

Under the reins of the Argentine coach, four years ago, Ecuador recovered from a football slump and managed to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, but its withdrawal occurred amid disagreements with the Ecuadorian football leadership, which it sued.

This time Alfaro’s team will face that of the Argentine coach, Sebastián Beccacece, who took over as coach of Ecuador in August.

Knowing that Alfaro knows his game closely, Ecuador’s Tri will be careful and recognizing that its rival is on the rise, it will seek to make the homeowner status prevail to remain in the direct classification zone, where it is fourth with 11 points.

COLOMBIA GOES FOR MORE AGAINST BOLIVIA AS A VISITOR

Colombia will put its undefeated record at stake on Thursday in a stadium just under 10,000 feet above sea level, a difficult but not impossible place after a period of acclimatization to face a renewed and emboldened Bolivia that at home is becoming more strong on the ninth date of the World Cup qualifiers.

Five days before the match, the team led by the Argentine coach, Néstor Lorenzo, arrived in Bolivia to the central region of Cochabamba, which is about 9,100 feet above sea level, to acclimatize.

Their stars Luis Díaz of England’s Liverpool and James Rodríguez joined training on Monday.

The Spanish Rayo Vallecano player recalled his 13 years in the coffee team and expressed that he arrives “with the greatest hope once again,” as he published on his X account, formerly Twitter.

The Colombian team comes into the match with a heavy loss of defender Daniel Nuñoz from England’s Crystal Palace due to a muscle injury. Muñoz will also miss the match against Chile in the Colombian city of Barranquilla.

BRAZIL PLAYS AWAY AGAINST CHILE

Under pressure after a series of poor results, the Brazilian team will surely have its three Real Madrid representatives up front for the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.

Coach Dorival Júnior included seven forwards in the squad he announced on Friday and Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Endrick, all Real Madrid players, are expected to start in the attack in the away games against Chile on October 10 and at home five days later against Peru.

Veteran Neymar, who is expected to return after suffering an ACL injury last year, remains out of the national team.

Brazil is in fifth position after eight games in the South American qualifying round.

Chile and Peru are the two last in the 10-team round-robin style competition.

This month, Brazil had a lackluster performance in a 1-0 win against Ecuador and a 1-0 loss to Paraguay.

Dorival Júnior, who took charge of the national team at the start of the year, has been under pressure since Uruguay eliminated Brazil in the Copa América quarterfinals in July.

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