From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Second-to-last round for this very much non-rocking Conmebol qualifying
cycle, and one without any surprises really. Colombia, Uruguay and
Paraguay clinch the last three automatic spots, as they were very likely
to, and only the playoff spot is still up for grabs, which will fall in
either Venezuela's or Bolivia's hands - and both play at home in the
last round.

Uruguay 3-0 Peru

Easy enough win for Uruguay at Estadio Centen|irio, in Montevideo. Goals
by Rodrigo Aguirre (13'), Giorgian de Arrascaeta (57') and Federico
Vi|#as (79') clinched a WC spot which was basically in La Celeste's hands already. Peru needed a miracle to even try to reach the playoff spot,
well, that is over now and they are officially out of contention.

Colombia 3-0 Bolivia

Colombia does its homework without much of a scare at Estadio
Metropolitano de Barranquilla. James Rodr|!guez (30'), Jhon C||rdoba (73')
and Juan Quintero (82') earned the hosts their first win after six games
and booked their places on North America'2026. Bolivia, with one win and
eight losses out of nine away games (still a better performance than Venezuela, Peru and Chile on that particular table), still has the
playoff spot within reach.

Paraguay 0-0 Ecuador

Honours split even at Estadio Defensores del Chaco, in Asunci||n, as
Paraguay and Ecuador play a not very rocking 0-0 draw that was enough to
bring the hosts back to the World Cup after 15 years. Ecuador was
already over the line.

Argentina 3-0 Venezuela

This game might have been the last official game of Lionel Messi for the national team in Argentinian territory, and he duly decided to deliver a performance up to the occasion. He scored twice (38' and 79'), and
another goal by Lautaro Mart|!nez (75') finished off the hopeless
Vinotinto at a packed Estadio Monumental de Nu|#ez, in Buenos Aires.
Argentina has long qualified and ensured its spot at the top of the
table, while Venezuela still hangs on to the playoff spot.

Brasil 3-0 Chile

The only truly meaningless game of the round, since Brasil had already clinched a spot and Chile is already out of contention, only playing to
avoid last place. Brasil largely dominated affairs at Maracan|u, in Rio
de Janeiro, and Estev|uo scored his first ever goal for Brasil in the
37th minute. Paquet|i, now free from his betting-related problems with
the English FA, returned to the team as well and, 40 seconds after being subbed in, finished a very nice move by Luiz Henrique for the 2-0, in
the 71th minute. Luiz Henrique also made the play of the third goal, in
the 75th minute, but the ball hit the bar and Bruno Guimar|ues pushed it
over the line.


Table [points, games, w-d-l, gs-gc, gd, (mi = media inglese)]

1 Argentina 38 17 12 2 3 31-9 22+ (mi = +3)
2 Brasil 28 17 8 4 5 24-16 8+ (mi = -7)
3 Uruguay 27 17 7 6 4 22-12 10+ (mi = -8)
4 Ecuador 26 17 7 8 2 13-5 8+ (mi = -4) (-3 points penalty)
5 Colombia 25 17 6 7 4 22-15 7+ (mi =-10)
6 Paraguay 25 17 6 7 4 13-10 3+ (mi =-10) ----------------------------- --------------------
7 Venezuela 18 17 4 6 7 15-22 7- (mi =-15) ----------------------------- --------------------
8 Bolivia 17 17 5 2 10 16-35 19- (mi =-16)
9 Peru 12 17 2 6 9 6-20 14- (mi =-21)
10 Chile 10 17 2 4 11 9-27 18- (mi =-23)


Looking at the above table, how much more rocking things would have been
in the old 32-team World Cup, with 4.5 spots for Conmebol? Maybe not
that much, seeing as four of the five games of Round 18 would involve
already eliminated teams, with Ecuador having drawn the short stick and
having to face Argentina (although at home...). But still, things would
have been wide open, with only one of the automatic spots already
clinched and the ghost of 6th place haunting the five contestants over
every game of the round. I know I sound like a broken record by now, but
let's again thank FIFA for making the qualifying round a pointless
exercise, and Conmebol for having picked a format with 90 games to weed
out only three teams.

(though, to be fair with Conmebol, I don't think it's possible to design
a challenging and competitive qualifying round given the circumstances.)

Next round to be played on September 9th. In brackets below, the results
of these games in the WCQ cycles of 2022/2018/2014/2010/2006/2002/1998
(all the round robin ones so far):

Ecuador - Argentina (1-1, 1-3, 1-1, 2-0, 2-0, 0-2, 2-0). Matchday 1: ARG
1-0 ECU

Mostly a friendly, given that the two sides are already through. Ecuador
won't even bother to try to use the altitude against Argentina, holding
this game at Estadio Monumental de Guayaquil instead. I figure they may
want to finish on a high note, but then, so does Argentina? Up for
grabs, I'd say, I'll call an 1-1 draw (in soph-terms: Ecuador 0.35, draw
0.35, Argentina 0.30).

Peru - Paraguay (2-0, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 4-1, 2-0, 1-0). Matchday 1: PAR 0-0 PER

Peru basically plays here to leave the last position in the hands of
their beloved southern rivals, while Paraguay is already over the line.
Not sure what to call here either: on one hand, even when Paraguay were
on their golden generation, they always struggled in Lima. If I went a
further four years back in the above score list, there appears a certain
2-2 which kept Paraguay from qualifying to the interconfederational
playoffs instead of Argentina, who on the same day suffered that famous
0-5 walloping in the hands of Colombia. On the other hand, this Peruvian
team is really that bad. I'll make it an uninteresting 1-1 draw (in soph-terms: Peru 0.35, draw 0.35, Paraguay 0.30).

Venezuela - Colombia (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 2-2, 0-2). Matchday 1:
COL 1-0 VEN

I don't think Venezuela has ever been that close to... well, not
qualifying to the Cup itself, but at least making the
interconfederational playoffs! This is THE big game for them, and of
course it had to be a derby. Colombia has nothing to play for, and I'm
not sure how deep their rivalry goes, so I don't know if it'll be a
factor. But the Vinotinto needs a win to be certain to make the
playoffs. I hope they get it, so I'll call a close and tense 1-0 win for
them at Estadio Monumental de Matur|!n (in soph-terms: Venezuela 0.40,
draw 0.35, Colombia 0.25).

Bolivia - Brasil (0-4, 0-0, n/a, 2-1, 1-1, 3-1, n/a). Matchday 1: BRA
5-1 BOL

Going a further four years back we find a 2-0 win that was Brasil's
first ever WCQ loss. Though Brasil tends to struggle in the altitude and
has nothing to play for, in the last two cycles, not even the altitude
of La Paz was enough for Bolivia to put up a game (the 0-0 draw in 2017
was due to Carlos Lampe putting out a world class performance to stop
Brasil). The hosts, though, have a lot to play for this time, as they
need a win to make it to the interconfederational playoffs: a draw would
only be enough if Venezuela loses by 12 goals to Colombia, which I'd
call a low probability event. On this cycle Bolivia still haven't lost
at Estadio Municipal de El Alto (4 km above sea level), but the gulf
between the two sides is immense... Well, up for grabs I guess, and
Carlo Ancelotti's welcome to the South American altitude too, I'll call
it a 1-1 draw, with all the edge to the hosts though (in soph-terms:
Bolivia 0.50, draw 0.30, Brasil 0.20).

Chile - Uruguay (0-2, 3-1, 2-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-1, 1-0). Matchday 1: URU 3-1 CHI

Another game where the only thing at stake is Chile trying to save some
face in front of their fans and avoiding the last position. Uruguay is
the much better side, but have nothing to play for. Again I have no idea
what to predict, and again I'll go with an 1-1 draw (in soph-terms:
Chile 0.30, draw 0.35, Uruguay 0.35).


Best regards,

Ll|-o
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From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Ll|-o wrote:

Second-to-last round for this very much non-rocking Conmebol
qualifying cycle, and one without any surprises really. Colombia,
Uruguay and Paraguay clinch the last three automatic spots, as they
were very likely to, and only the playoff spot is still up for grabs,
which will fall in either Venezuela's or Bolivia's hands - and both
play at home in the last round.

Uruguay 3-0 Peru

Easy enough win for Uruguay at Estadio Centen|irio, in Montevideo.
Goals by Rodrigo Aguirre (13'), Giorgian de Arrascaeta (57') and
Federico Vi|#as (79') clinched a WC spot which was basically in La
Celeste's hands already. Peru needed a miracle to even try to reach
the playoff spot, well, that is over now and they are officially out
of contention.

Colombia 3-0 Bolivia

Colombia does its homework without much of a scare at Estadio
Metropolitano de Barranquilla. James Rodr|!guez (30'), Jhon C||rdoba
(73') and Juan Quintero (82') earned the hosts their first win after
six games and booked their places on North America'2026. Bolivia,
with one win and eight losses out of nine away games (still a better performance than Venezuela, Peru and Chile on that particular table),
still has the playoff spot within reach.

Paraguay 0-0 Ecuador

Honours split even at Estadio Defensores del Chaco, in Asunci||n, as
Paraguay and Ecuador play a not very rocking 0-0 draw that was enough
to bring the hosts back to the World Cup after 15 years. Ecuador was
already over the line.

Argentina 3-0 Venezuela

This game might have been the last official game of Lionel Messi for
the national team in Argentinian territory, and he duly decided to
deliver a performance up to the occasion. He scored twice (38' and
79'), and another goal by Lautaro Mart|!nez (75') finished off the
hopeless Vinotinto at a packed Estadio Monumental de Nu|#ez, in Buenos
Aires. Argentina has long qualified and ensured its spot at the top
of the table, while Venezuela still hangs on to the playoff spot.

I read that the Argentinian FA were cashing in on the fact that it was
likely to be Lionel Messi's last ever home match in the World Cup
qualifiers and the cheapest tickets for this match were $100.

Brasil 3-0 Chile

The only truly meaningless game of the round, since Brasil had
already clinched a spot and Chile is already out of contention, only
playing to avoid last place. Brasil largely dominated affairs at
Maracan|u, in Rio de Janeiro, and Estev|uo scored his first ever goal
for Brasil in the 37th minute. Paquet|i, now free from his
betting-related problems with the English FA, returned to the team as
well and, 40 seconds after being subbed in, finished a very nice move
by Luiz Henrique for the 2-0, in the 71th minute. Luiz Henrique also
made the play of the third goal, in the 75th minute, but the ball hit
the bar and Bruno Guimar|ues pushed it over the line.

Table [points, games, w-d-l, gs-gc, gd, (mi = media inglese)]

1 Argentina 38 17 12 2 3 31-9 22+ (mi = +3)
2 Brasil 28 17 8 4 5 24-16 8+ (mi = -7)
3 Uruguay 27 17 7 6 4 22-12 10+ (mi = -8)
4 Ecuador 26 17 7 8 2 13-5 8+ (mi = -4) (-3 points
penalty) 5 Colombia 25 17 6 7 4 22-15 7+ (mi =-10)
6 Paraguay 25 17 6 7 4 13-10 3+ (mi =-10) ----------------------------- --------------------
7 Venezuela 18 17 4 6 7 15-22 7- (mi =-15) ----------------------------- --------------------
8 Bolivia 17 17 5 2 10 16-35 19- (mi =-16)
9 Peru 12 17 2 6 9 6-20 14- (mi =-21)
10 Chile 10 17 2 4 11 9-27 18- (mi =-23)

Looking at the above table, how much more rocking things would have
been in the old 32-team World Cup, with 4.5 spots for Conmebol? Maybe
not that much, seeing as four of the five games of Round 18 would
involve already eliminated teams, with Ecuador having drawn the short
stick and having to face Argentina (although at home...). But still,
things would have been wide open, with only one of the automatic
spots already clinched and the ghost of 6th place haunting the five contestants over every game of the round. I know I sound like a
broken record by now, but let's again thank FIFA for making the
qualifying round a pointless exercise, and Conmebol for having picked
a format with 90 games to weed out only three teams.

(though, to be fair with Conmebol, I don't think it's possible to
design a challenging and competitive qualifying round given the circumstances.)

The best alternative would be 2 groups of 5 wouldn't it?, with the top
3 qualifying and the 4th place teams playing each other for a place in
the inter-confederation play-offs. I think all 10 teams playing each
other is possibly slightly better though.

Next round to be played on September 9th. In brackets below, the
results of these games in the WCQ cycles of 2022/2018/2014/2010/2006/2002/1998 (all the round robin ones so far):

Ecuador - Argentina (1-1, 1-3, 1-1, 2-0, 2-0, 0-2, 2-0). Matchday 1:
ARG 1-0 ECU

Mostly a friendly, given that the two sides are already through.
Ecuador won't even bother to try to use the altitude against
Argentina, holding this game at Estadio Monumental de Guayaquil
instead. I figure they may want to finish on a high note, but then,
so does Argentina? Up for grabs, I'd say, I'll call an 1-1 draw (in soph-terms: Ecuador 0.35, draw 0.35, Argentina 0.30).

I'll go for a 1-1 draw; no I won't, I say 1-2.

Peru - Paraguay (2-0, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 4-1, 2-0, 1-0). Matchday 1: PAR
0-0 PER

Peru basically plays here to leave the last position in the hands of
their beloved southern rivals, while Paraguay is already over the
line. Not sure what to call here either: on one hand, even when
Paraguay were on their golden generation, they always struggled in
Lima. If I went a further four years back in the above score list,
there appears a certain 2-2 which kept Paraguay from qualifying to
the interconfederational playoffs instead of Argentina, who on the
same day suffered that famous 0-5 walloping in the hands of Colombia.
On the other hand, this Peruvian team is really that bad. I'll make
it an uninteresting 1-1 draw (in soph-terms: Peru 0.35, draw 0.35,
Paraguay 0.30).

1-1

Venezuela - Colombia (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 2-2, 0-2). Matchday 1:
COL 1-0 VEN

I don't think Venezuela has ever been that close to... well, not
qualifying to the Cup itself, but at least making the
interconfederational playoffs! This is THE big game for them, and of
course it had to be a derby. Colombia has nothing to play for, and
I'm not sure how deep their rivalry goes, so I don't know if it'll be
a factor. But the Vinotinto needs a win to be certain to make the
playoffs. I hope they get it, so I'll call a close and tense 1-0 win
for them at Estadio Monumental de Matur|!n (in soph-terms: Venezuela
0.40, draw 0.35, Colombia 0.25).

1-0

Bolivia - Brasil (0-4, 0-0, n/a, 2-1, 1-1, 3-1, n/a). Matchday 1: BRA
5-1 BOL

Going a further four years back we find a 2-0 win that was Brasil's
first ever WCQ loss. Though Brasil tends to struggle in the altitude
and has nothing to play for, in the last two cycles, not even the
altitude of La Paz was enough for Bolivia to put up a game (the 0-0
draw in 2017 was due to Carlos Lampe putting out a world class
performance to stop Brasil). The hosts, though, have a lot to play
for this time, as they need a win to make it to the
interconfederational playoffs: a draw would only be enough if
Venezuela loses by 12 goals to Colombia, which I'd call a low
probability event. On this cycle Bolivia still haven't lost at
Estadio Municipal de El Alto (4 km above sea level), but the gulf
between the two sides is immense... Well, up for grabs I guess, and
Carlo Ancelotti's welcome to the South American altitude too, I'll
call it a 1-1 draw, with all the edge to the hosts though (in
soph-terms: Bolivia 0.50, draw 0.30, Brasil 0.20).

1-2 (I can't make all my predictions the same as Lleo's can I?)

Chile - Uruguay (0-2, 3-1, 2-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-1, 1-0). Matchday 1: URU
3-1 CHI

Another game where the only thing at stake is Chile trying to save
some face in front of their fans and avoiding the last position.
Uruguay is the much better side, but have nothing to play for. Again
I have no idea what to predict, and again I'll go with an 1-1 draw
(in soph-terms: Chile 0.30, draw 0.35, Uruguay 0.35).

0-3 (If Uruguay can beat Argentina 2-0 away, they can beat Chile 3-0.
And yes Uruguay have nothing to play for this time but nor do Chile.)

Best regards,

Ll|-o

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From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On 2025-09-04 21:01, Ll|-o wrote:

Second-to-last round for this very much non-rocking Conmebol qualifying cycle, and one without any surprises really. Colombia, Uruguay and
Paraguay clinch the last three automatic spots, as they were very likely
to, and only the playoff spot is still up for grabs, which will fall in either Venezuela's or Bolivia's hands - and both play at home in the
last round.

SNIP>

Looking at the above table, how much more rocking things would have been
in the old 32-team World Cup, with 4.5 spots for Conmebol? Maybe not
that much, seeing as four of the five games of Round 18 would involve already eliminated teams, with Ecuador having drawn the short stick and having to face Argentina (although at home...). But still, things would
have been wide open, with only one of the automatic spots already
clinched and the ghost of 6th place haunting the five contestants over
every game of the round. I know I sound like a broken record by now, but let's again thank FIFA for making the qualifying round a pointless
exercise, and Conmebol for having picked a format with 90 games to weed
out only three teams.

(though, to be fair with Conmebol, I don't think it's possible to design
a challenging and competitive qualifying round given the circumstances.)

Has any thought ever been given to including Suriname and Guyana in
CONMEBOL and thus increasing the pool to 12 teams? Two groups of six
would make sense in that context.
Suriname have been improving, but I don't think they would challenge for
even a playoff spot yet. Guyana would struggle, but at least they would
get more games against strong opposition. >

Next round to be played on September 9th. In brackets below, the results
of these games in the WCQ cycles of 2022/2018/2014/2010/2006/2002/1998
(all the round robin ones so far):

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From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

On 07/09/2025 18:19, MH wrote:

On 2025-09-04 21:01, Ll|-o wrote:

Looking at the above table, how much more rocking things would have
been in the old 32-team World Cup, with 4.5 spots for Conmebol? Maybe
not that much, seeing as four of the five games of Round 18 would
involve already eliminated teams, with Ecuador having drawn the short
stick and having to face Argentina (although at home...). But still,
things would have been wide open, with only one of the automatic spots
already clinched and the ghost of 6th place haunting the five
contestants over every game of the round. I know I sound like a broken
record by now, but let's again thank FIFA for making the qualifying
round a pointless exercise, and Conmebol for having picked a format
with 90 games to weed out only three teams.

(though, to be fair with Conmebol, I don't think it's possible to
design a challenging and competitive qualifying round given the
circumstances.)

Has any thought ever been given to including Suriname and Guyana in
CONMEBOL and thus increasing the pool to 12 teams?-a Two groups of six
would make sense in that context.
Suriname have been improving, but I don't think they would challenge for even a playoff spot yet.-a Guyana would struggle, but at least they would get more games against strong opposition.

I'm not aware of this ever been given serious consideration, and I'm not
even sure Suriname or Guyana would go for it. Suriname is a founder
member of Concacaf and, beyond that, both see themselves as mostly
Caribbean countries, which makes every sense.

The system you propose would wrap things up in 10 rounds (plus a playoff between the 4th placed sides, I guess, for a place in the
intercontinental playoffs). Conmebol probably wouldn't go for it,
because they'd lose the Brasil vs Argentina fixture, unless they cooked
a way to put them on the same group (they've done that before, though in
Copa America). But I agree that it would make sense.

I've been thinking whether it's viable to bring together Concacaf and
Conmebol spots and come up with some pan-American final round with all
of them up for grabs (12 currently, including the three hosts). Let's
aim at three groups of 6, top 4 qualifying. 18 teams total. Bring in the
top four sides of each confederation, by FIFA ranking (or other metric). Currently, these would be Argentina, Brasil, Colombia and Uruguay for
Conmebol and Mexico, United States, Canada and Panama for Concacaf.

So, we'd have 10 spots available in the final round. For the preliminary round, let's divide the rest of the teams in three groups, one from
South America (6 teams), another from Central America (6 teams) and
another from the Caribbean (25 I think?). Give three spots in the final
round for each and let them fight out for the last one in a repechage.

Say that the survivors of this pre-qualifying round are Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Jamaica, Haiti and T&T.
Venezuela beats Suriname and Guatemala for the last spot. We may get
groups like these (sorted by FIFA ranking)

A - Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador
B - Brasil, United States, Canada, Paraguay, Honduras, Haiti
C - Mexico, Uruguay, Panama, Venezuela, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago

With the top four going to the World Cup it still looks very easy for
the top sides, but I guess that can't really be helped? There's more
travel involved, but less games too. Well, it's an attempt.


Best regards,

Ll|-o
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From Newsgroup: rec.sport.soccer

Mark wrote:

Ll|-o wrote:

Next round to be played on September 9th. In brackets below, the
results of these games in the WCQ cycles of 2022/2018/2014/2010/2006/2002/1998 (all the round robin ones so
far):

Ecuador - Argentina (1-1, 1-3, 1-1, 2-0, 2-0, 0-2, 2-0). Matchday 1:
ARG 1-0 ECU

Mostly a friendly, given that the two sides are already through.
Ecuador won't even bother to try to use the altitude against
Argentina, holding this game at Estadio Monumental de Guayaquil
instead. I figure they may want to finish on a high note, but then,
so does Argentina? Up for grabs, I'd say, I'll call an 1-1 draw (in soph-terms: Ecuador 0.35, draw 0.35, Argentina 0.30).

I'll go for a 1-1 draw; no I won't, I say 1-2.

Lleo 30 points
Mark 0

Peru - Paraguay (2-0, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 4-1, 2-0, 1-0). Matchday 1: PAR
0-0 PER

Peru basically plays here to leave the last position in the hands of
their beloved southern rivals, while Paraguay is already over the
line. Not sure what to call here either: on one hand, even when
Paraguay were on their golden generation, they always struggled in
Lima. If I went a further four years back in the above score list,
there appears a certain 2-2 which kept Paraguay from qualifying to
the interconfederational playoffs instead of Argentina, who on the
same day suffered that famous 0-5 walloping in the hands of
Colombia. On the other hand, this Peruvian team is really that
bad. I'll make it an uninteresting 1-1 draw (in soph-terms: Peru
0.35, draw 0.35, Paraguay 0.30).

1-1

Lleo 30
Mark 30

Venezuela - Colombia (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 2-0, 0-0, 2-2, 0-2). Matchday
1: COL 1-0 VEN

I don't think Venezuela has ever been that close to... well, not
qualifying to the Cup itself, but at least making the
interconfederational playoffs! This is THE big game for them, and of
course it had to be a derby. Colombia has nothing to play for, and
I'm not sure how deep their rivalry goes, so I don't know if it'll
be a factor. But the Vinotinto needs a win to be certain to make the playoffs. I hope they get it, so I'll call a close and tense 1-0 win
for them at Estadio Monumental de Matur|!n (in soph-terms: Venezuela
0.40, draw 0.35, Colombia 0.25).

1-0

Lleo 0
Mark 0

Bolivia - Brasil (0-4, 0-0, n/a, 2-1, 1-1, 3-1, n/a). Matchday 1:
BRA 5-1 BOL

Going a further four years back we find a 2-0 win that was Brasil's
first ever WCQ loss. Though Brasil tends to struggle in the altitude
and has nothing to play for, in the last two cycles, not even the
altitude of La Paz was enough for Bolivia to put up a game (the 0-0
draw in 2017 was due to Carlos Lampe putting out a world class
performance to stop Brasil). The hosts, though, have a lot to play
for this time, as they need a win to make it to the
interconfederational playoffs: a draw would only be enough if
Venezuela loses by 12 goals to Colombia, which I'd call a low
probability event. On this cycle Bolivia still haven't lost at
Estadio Municipal de El Alto (4 km above sea level), but the gulf
between the two sides is immense... Well, up for grabs I guess, and
Carlo Ancelotti's welcome to the South American altitude too, I'll
call it a 1-1 draw, with all the edge to the hosts though (in
soph-terms: Bolivia 0.50, draw 0.30, Brasil 0.20).

1-2 (I can't make all my predictions the same as Lleo's can I?)

Lleo 30
Mark 0

Perhaps I should make all my predictions the same as Lleo's after all.

Chile - Uruguay (0-2, 3-1, 2-0, 0-0, 1-1, 0-1, 1-0). Matchday 1: URU
3-1 CHI

Another game where the only thing at stake is Chile trying to save
some face in front of their fans and avoiding the last position.
Uruguay is the much better side, but have nothing to play for. Again
I have no idea what to predict, and again I'll go with an 1-1 draw
(in soph-terms: Chile 0.30, draw 0.35, Uruguay 0.35).

0-3 (If Uruguay can beat Argentina 2-0 away, they can beat Chile 3-0.
And yes Uruguay have nothing to play for this time but nor do Chile.)

Lleo 90
Mark 0

Totals:

Lleo 180
Mark 30

Did the fact that so many teams had nothing to play for make this round
more unpredictable?
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