World Soccer - UK (2022-05)

South America

TIM VICKERY

Play-off spot

secured...Peru

celebrate after

beating Paraguay

ith a new format in

the 2026 World Cup,

South America’s

qualification system

maywellhaveto

change. But the one

group, everyone-against-everyone

marathon format, used between1998

and this year, has certainly left its mark.

When it arrived, it gave the teams of

the continent, for the first time, the type

of calendar that European sides have

long taken for granted, with regular

Ricardo Gareca’s team head to the inter-confederational play-offs,

with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador safely through to Qatar

competitive games and guaranteed

income. The effect on the lesser nations

was clear: Ecuador qualified for their

first World Cup in 2002, and reached

the second round four years later;

Paraguay enjoyed their best-ever

World Cup in 2010, as did Colombia

in 2014; Uruguay roared back to the

game’s top table; and, back in the

competition for the first time since

1982, Peru gave eventual champions

France a tough game in the group

stage four years ago in Russia.

Peru clinch play-off spot

Peru reached that World Cup via the

play-offs – and may well do the same

thing again this time. The only matter to

be decided in the final round was fifth

place, the play-off spot. Peru’s 2-0 win

over Paraguay ensured they grabbed it

by finishing a point clear of Colombia.

The vital game here was Peru’s1-0

win in Colombia late inJanuary – exactly

the type of game that, in the era before

coach Ricardo Gareca, Peru would have

lost. Now consistently more than the

sum of their parts, they grimly held

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