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Argentina‘s historic 1-0 victory at the Maracana has handed Brazil their first-ever home World Cup qualification loss.
Argentina, the current world champions, enhanced their bid to qualify for the 2026 tournament while further hurting that of the five-time winners.
The match ended in a heated altercation between the two fierce rivals both on and off the field, which was finally resolved by a header from Nicolas Otamendi.
Due to altercations between Brazilian police and Argentina supporters in the stands, which got so bad that players like Lionel Messi and Emiliano Martinez sought to intervene and diffuse the situation, the match was delayed by thirty minutes.
After the national anthems, both sets of players were sent back into the changing room until the game started, with Brazil hoping to exact revenge on Argentina for their 2021 Copa America final victory at the same stadium.
Before the latest visit of their fiercest rivals, the Selecao enjoyed an amazing record of 51 wins, 13 draws, and 0 losses in their home World Cup qualifiers. However, Otamendi’s powerful header just past the hour mark ended that illustrious and enduring run.
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Nine minutes from time, Joelinton of Newcastle United was cruelly sent off with a straight red card for allegedly punching Rodrigo De Paul off the ball. This furthered the suffering for the home team and made it harder for them to salvage a crucial point.
After taking just one point from the final 12 available in the CONMEBOL rankings and losing three straight games for the first time since 2001, Brazil’s setback forces them to honestly ponder the possibility of missing out on World Cup qualifying for the first time ever.
Currently ranked sixth in the qualifying campaign, the five-time world champions are in the final spot and will automatically qualify for the tournament in Canada, the United States, and Mexico in 2026.
For the first time ever, Brazil has also failed to score in four straight games against Argentina, and after just six games, they are eight points behind the group-leading World Cup winners.
In other South American qualifying matches, Ecuador defeated Paraguay 1-0, Ecuador defeated Bolivia 3-0, and Peru drew 1-1 with Venezuela. Darwin Nunez of Liverpool scored twice for Uruguay.
