Final standings for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers: qualifiers, playoffs, and what's next

The eighteenth and final round of South American qualifying for the 2026 World Cup left Bolivia ready to play in the playoffs, while Venezuela awaited the start of the 2030 World Cup qualifiers, forgetting that they missed out on a great opportunity to attend their first world championship. Colombia finished with a victory, and Argentina finished the qualifiers in first place.

Argentina, which played against Ecuador on Tuesday without Lionel Messi , led the final ranking of qualified teams with 38 points. Ecuador followed with 29, followed by Colombia with 28, Uruguay, Brazil, and Paraguay to round out the privileged group that will compete in the United States, Mexico, and Canada from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

For now, the group draw for the 2026 World Cup will be held in Washington on December 5, 2023, in the United States. These are the events that marked the 733rd day of the South American qualifiers, which began on September 7, 2023, and which closed today.

Bolivia, meanwhile, finished seventh with 20 points and earned a spot in the intercontinental playoff along with five other teams: one each from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and CONCACAF. The playoff will be held between March 23 and 31 of next year for a spot in the World Cup.

The Bolivian national team claimed a 1-0 victory over Brazil, which finished in fifth place. A penalty taken by Miguel Terceros in the fourth minute of added time was enough for the Verde to seal the victory at the 4,150-meter stadium in the municipality of El Alto, dropping the Canarinha to fifth place, the same 28 points as Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

Bolivia reached the end of its run with 20 points, which earned it the seventh spot, which Venezuela was holding onto today, and Brazil finished with 28 points out of a possible 54, with a 51.8 percent utilization rate.

Venezuela was counting on itself to qualify for the 2026 World Cup playoff, but failed to do so by losing 6-3 to Colombia on Tuesday, playing with the confidence of having qualified for its seventh World Cup. This gave life to Bolivia, which did its job and deprived it of seventh place with a 1-0 victory over Brazil.

Colombia prevailed after a sluggish start and then stormed back to a convincing victory over La Vinotinto. The star of the match was striker Luis Suárez, who scored four goals. Colombia finishes third in the standings.

La Tri secured second place in the South American qualifiers by defeating Argentina 1-0 at the Isidro Romero Carbo Stadium in Guayaquil. The only goal was scored by a penalty by forward Enner Valencia, who thus reached six in the group stage. Both teams suffered an expulsion by the referee, Colombian Wilmar Roldán . In the first half, the Albiceleste lost Nicolás Otamendi for a violent foul on Valencia, while La Tri was reduced to ten men in the second half after a double yellow card for Moisés Caicedo.

Despite the defeat, Argentina finished first in the qualifiers with a performance of 70.3%. Ecuador broke a streak of four consecutive draws and the win gave them a performance of 53.7%. Bottom-place Chile draws Uruguay, fourth-place Chile and Uruguay played out a 0-0 draw at the National Stadium in Santiago in a match in which La Roja failed to achieve their goal of moving out of last place, and the visitors settled into fourth place.

Paraguay prolongs the celebration, Peru ends its slump. A goal by Matías Galarza in the 78th minute extended Paraguay's celebration of qualifying for its ninth World Cup in its history and ended its campaign with a 1-0 away win in Lima, which left Peru in a slump. La Albirroja finished in sixth place, with the last direct ticket to the World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and with 28 points in their saddlebags.