Argentina proves their class.

For the first time since 1959, Argentina scored four goals against Brazil in an official match.

After crushing Brazil with an unbelievable 4-1 victory in the "South American classic," Argentina doubled their joy by securing an early ticket to the 2026 World Cup. Consistently leading the South American region with impressive wins, Argentina had already secured a place in the 2026 World Cup finals starting in late 2024. The team led by coach Lionel Scaloni only underestimated the huge "gift" they received from Bolivia when the latter drew with Uruguay in the early match on March 26th, creating a large gap between the top-ranked Argentina and the seventh-placed team.

The South American World Cup qualifiers award 6.5 spots for the 2026 World Cup, including 6 teams that qualify directly for the finals and a 7th-placed team that will compete in a play-off against a representative from another region. Venezuela, ranked 7th, is 13 points behind, while Bolivia, ranked 8th, is 14 points behind with 4 matches remaining, meaning they will never catch up with Argentina even if "La Albiceleste" slips up in all of those matches.

The early joy before kick-off of the "South American Superclásico" further motivated and boosted Argentina's confidence as they hosted their arch-rivals Brazil. Both sides were missing key players (Argentina were without Lionel Messi, Paulo Dybala, and Lautaro Martinez; while Brazil were without Neymar, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Alisson Becker), so the difference in strength wasn't too great. The heavy defeat against their long-time rivals only prolonged the pain for the "Selecao".

Argentina is the seventh team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. (Photo: AFA)

Goals from Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis MacAllister, and Giuliano Simeone secured a 4-1 victory for Argentina, while visiting Brazil only managed a consolation goal from Matheus Cunha. Not only did Argentina dominate the scoreline, but they also completely controlled the game despite not having a significantly higher possession rate (53% vs 47%).

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It remains unclear whether Lionel Messi will continue to represent Argentina in the upcoming North American World Cup finals, but "La Albiceleste" has already asserted that they are no longer dependent on the superstar. Messi has been absent from numerous of the 14 qualifying rounds so far, but Argentina remains confident in their ability to "deal with" their noisy neighbors – from Brazil and Uruguay to Colombia…

Excluding three absences (1938, 1950, 1954) due to political reasons and one failure to qualify (1970), Argentina is aiming for its 19th appearance in the World Cup finals, behind only Brazil and Germany. With a squad a mix of veterans and talented young players, Argentina dreams of defending its title and winning its fourth World Cup – a record equal to Germany's and second only to Brazil in terms of the number of World Cup titles.

The resounding victory at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires was a clear affirmation that Argentina fully deserved to be awarded the first ticket from South America to the 2026 World Cup, marking the beginning of their journey to defend their world championship title won in Qatar in the winter of 2022.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/argentina-chung-minh-dang-cap-196250326212821398.htm