Lionel Messi finds motivation in Guatemala

Following the results of four rounds of the South American qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup, the current world champion, the Argentina national team, led by its captain Lionel Messi, has taken the lead, going ahead without a single misfire. Meanwhile, the Brazilian national team not only scored only one point in the last two meetings, but also, quite possibly, lost its star Neymar, who suffered a knee injury in the lost match against Uruguay.

A special feature of the South American qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup is the number of teams that qualify for the finals. Previously there were four of them, and the fifth was contesting another seat in a confrontation with a representative of another confederation. But now the number of participants in the final part has increased from 32 to 48, the six best teams from South America are guaranteed to be included in their number, and a seventh team will take part in additional play-offs. That is, the already not very high degree of mainland intrigue associated with the fact that such giants as Argentina and Brazil may theoretically not be at the World Cup has dropped to a minimum. After all, the total number of participants in the selection, which is held in South America according to a round-robin system, is limited to ten, and it is simply impossible to imagine that Argentines or Brazilians will not be in the top six.

True, they started differently. Argentina won four victories in a row with an excellent ratio of goals scored and conceded – 7:0, and in the last meeting away they beat the Peruvians with a score of 2:0. Both goals were scored within five minutes at the end of the first half by Lionel Messi, who had already regained his form after an injury suffered in a match for his club Inter Miami, and set a South American record for the most goals in World Cup qualifying matches.

The Argentine now has 31, two more than his former Barcelona teammate, Uruguayan Luis Suarez.

And now, apparently, Messi will try to set his sights on the absolute record held by the retired Guatemalan Carlos Ruiz, who scored 39 goals in matches of the Confederation of Football of North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). Also ahead of the Argentine is Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo with 36 goals and Iranian Ali Daei, who has long switched to coaching, who has one goal less. In the current tournament, Messi still has the opportunity to play 14 matches, and his chances of coming out on top are high, especially since there is an excellent psychological atmosphere in the Argentina national team. According to him, winning the America’s Cup in 2021 liberated the team, and after the triumph at the World Cup it added even more confidence.

“Whichever one of us takes to the field, we always maintain a distinct style and you can always tell that this is the Argentina national team. I hope that we can continue in the same spirit,” said the 36-year-old captain of the reigning world champions, who will face Paraguay in their next match in mid-November.

The start of the Brazilian national team, which, after two September victories over Bolivia and Peru, failed in both October rounds, contrasts sharply with the achievements of the Argentines.

First, the pentacampeons, led by their captain Neymar, achieved only a draw with Venezuela at home in Cuiaba – 1:1. The level of the game caused such dissatisfaction from the public that while leaving for the locker room, Neymar was hit in the head by a bag of popcorn thrown from the stands, and this became the reason for a scandal. In the stands, the star midfielder of the Saudi Al-Hilal team had an argument with the President of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ednaldo Rodriguez, about the choice of venue for the match, insulted him and threatened not to fly to Montevideo for the next game with Uruguay.

It, however, ended in even greater failure for the Brazilians. The guests not only suffered a defeat – 0:2, but also lost Neymar, who suffered a knee injury at the end of the first half after contact with the opposing midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz. Neymar left the field lying on an electric car, and the stadium with the help of crutches. The recovery period for the 31-year-old footballer, who has already missed a total of about three years during his career due to medical reasons, could be several months in the worst case. And his team has the same 7 points as Uruguay and Venezuela, 1 point ahead of Colombia and 3 points ahead of Ecuador, Paraguay and Chile.

Evgeniy Fedyakov