(Reuters) – Uruguay’s shock 3-0 defeat by Bolivia on Tuesday has left their followers bracing for what might be a dramatic closing 4 matches in South American World Cup qualifying.
The outcome meant it was the primary time Uruguay misplaced 4 qualifying video games in a row and the crew that includes Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani sit seventh within the desk with 16 factors from 14 video games and in actual hazard of lacking subsequent 12 months’s finals in Qatar.
The highest 4 South American nations qualify instantly, whereas the fifth-placed facet can advance through inter-continental playoffs that includes three different nations from Asia, CONCACAF and Oceania.
Brazil and Argentina have already certified, whereas Ecuador are third with a six-point lead over Colombia and Peru in fourth and fifth. Uruguay are tied with Chile on factors however have a dismal objective distinction of -7.
Uruguay’s struggles will not be new, with the crew that includes within the playoffs in 4 of the final 5 editions of qualifying. They reached the World Cup finals thrice in that interval, failing to qualify in 2006 after dropping to Australia.
Though Uruguay have suffered in qualifying, the two-times champions have had good ends in the earlier three World Cup finals, reaching the semi-finals in 2010, the last-16 in 2014 and the quarter-finals in 2018.
With 12 factors nonetheless out there in qualifying and solely 4 factors separating fourth and ninth, the final 4 video games promise loads of pleasure for supporters and alternatives for groups nonetheless in rivalry.
Uruguay return to motion on Jan. 27, after they face Paraguay away and host Venezuela on Feb. 1. In March, they host Peru and end their qualifying marketing campaign away in Chile.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Enhancing by Shrivathsa Sridhar)
