After FIFA rejected Conmebol’s candidacy to host the 2030 World Cup (in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile), awarding the venue to the joint application of Spain, Portugal and Morocco, the entity rector of football on the planet “threw a bone without meat to South America”. , it says in the interpretation of the paper Clarion Buenos Aires, so one match can be held in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Asunción. Thus, the South American Football Confederation “varnished the defeat” with a “mythological story”, comments the Albiceleste newspaper. Nation.

But regardless of the criticism, the presidents of the football associations of Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay almost danced (yes, Alejandro Domínguez, head of Conmebol, did) when FIFA’s decision was upheld; In the meantime, the Chilean, together with the government of that country, protested the exclusion, without to date receiving a formal explanation for their marginalization. The Reds expected the same treatment as the trio with whom they shared the dream of hosting the 2030 World Cup.

‘World confusion 2030’: Are Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay already classified? FIFA sows doubts

“What are they celebrating?” he asked. Clarion. Among other things, allegedly avoiding playoff competition. They assume this based on the belief of the automatic classification, which FIFA has not officially announced in any statement by any official or on its web portal.

The protest continues: Gabriel Boric, president of Chile, attacks FIFA for excluding his country from the 2030 World Cup.

FIFA’s silence

Hundreds of media around the world claim that the three South American countries will go directly to the 2030 World Cup, but none of them cite a source to back up that statement. An observer, from Montevideo, reproduced a conversation between two football directors in the region: Three of the ten Conmebol teams have already been classified. “The three of us are already classified, that’s very important,” said the president of the Paraguayan Football Association, Robert Harrison. There were even jokes for Harrison. ‘You’ve already qualified,’ Ignacio Alonso, president of the Uruguayan Football Association, told him. “This way, the Uruguayan team will not have to play in the next qualifying rounds.”

Crying and indignation in Chile because they did not participate in the 2030 World Cup: ‘Conmebol destroyed us’, complains the red press

Instead of that, Nation He emphasizes that “FIFA did not even confirm that these three national teams are qualified for the World Cup, which, logically, it admitted to the three organizers (Spain, Portugal and Morocco)”. Alonso, the head of the AUF, even talked about the format of the World Cup according to the 2030 championship: “The (Conmebol) qualifiers will be with seven countries and there will be 3.5 free places.”

These are the details of the 2030 World Cup: direct qualification, ceremony and three games in South America for 100 years of FIFA tournament

If this last alternative is confirmed, the South American qualifying tournament would be played by Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela. It is assumed that three straight tickets will be awarded, plus the possibility of one more in the repechage. Do the Tricolors’ chances of qualifying improve without the presence of Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay?

Tricolor options

Ecuador’s four appearances at FIFA World Cups have occurred in the 21st century. Heading into the 2002 Japan-South Korea competition, four Conmebol teams were straight (Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, in that order) and one in a repechage (Uruguay, as fifth place). Without the three countries chosen as sub-hosts for 2030, the Tricolor would then finish at the top of the standings.

Going into Germany in 2006, Conmebol entered four teams directly into that tournament (Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay, in the order listed above). The fifth from South America, Uruguay, failed in the play-off. Had the Charrúas, Albiceleste and Guaraníes not played in the process – the latter national team surpassed in the table -, as is likely to happen for the 2030 World Cup, Luis Fernando Suárez’s team would also have sealed their passage, but as second.

How much Sixto Vizuete would have benefited Ecuador if Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay had not participated in the qualifiers for South Africa 2010! They classified, placed from the first to the fourth box, Brazil, Chile, albirrojos and gauchos. Through the repechage, Uruguay traveled to Africa. Tricolor was sixth with 23 units, one less than Charrúas, and was eliminated. If the three teams that will be sub-hosts in 2030 had not interfered in the process in 2010 – whose direct presence in the competition that year has not been confirmed – the Vizueta team would have qualified third, behind Brazil and Chile.

It would be the playoffs

Brazil avoided qualifying for the 2014 World Cup as the host country. The four direct spots are shared between Argentina (first), Colombia (second), Chile (third) and Ecuador (fourth). Uruguay (fifth) won the play-off and was the sixth Conmebol team at the World Cup. Had it not been for the 2014 qualifying tournament for the three who will supposedly go to the World Cup without playing, La Tri would also be in Brazil, but as third.

Heading into Russia 2018, South American qualifiers ended with Brazil leading the way; Uruguay, Argentina and Colombia, as second, third and fourth respectively, and all are classified directly. Peru was fifth and won the playoff that took them to the World Cup. If those who intend to go to the World Cup in 2030 without a previous process did not participate in the World Cup in Russia, Ecuador would then be fifth with the right to the play-offs.

Although Ecuador qualified for Qatar 2022 with all Conmebol teams in the qualifying round, without Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay (who failed) they would have finished second, not fourth. This review confirms that if the Celestes, Gauchos and Guaraníes did not appear in all the world championships of the new millennium, the final positions of the Tricolor would have been better, obviously with fewer rivals. Also to qualify for South Africa in 2010 and to access the play-offs for Russia in 2018. Therefore, by 2030 the qualification options for the national team would be huge in percentages without the Uruguayans, Argentines and Paraguayans giving up confirmed. (D)