World Cup 2026: The Giants of South America Will Collide in Rio de Janeiro

Brazil vs Argentina

After five matches in the CONMEBOL World Cup 2026 qualifying, Argentina have emerged as the top club in the region. The defending World Cup champions haven’t lost a step as they continue to boast their superiority on the pitch. Since their exciting triumph over France in the World Cup final, Argentina have not allowed a goal to be scored against them in eight games (four friendly and four qualification matches). But they quickly went back to Earth when they hosted Uruguay at La Bombonera.

Meanwhile, Brazilian youngsters are expected to step up for Fernando Diniz as they try to turn their luck around after losing back-to-back qualifying matches. Without Neymar at the helm, the young talents of Brazil will be thrown into the fire when they go against the GOAT and the rest of Argentina.

Talking Points

Argentina to bounce back

Messi’s Argentina aim to go back to their winning ways after suffering their first loss since winning the World Cup title. After dominating the region in their first four matches, the defending champs were stunned with a 0-2 clean sheet defeat against Uruguay earlier this week.

The Argentines took the loss but still retained their lead in the CONMEBOL standings with 12 points, while Uruguay found themselves with 10 points and improved to second place.

With this, seasoned captain Lionel Messi kept his head above his shoulders and was quick to pinpoint what went wrong for them against a sturdy Uruguay team. “We knew who we were going to play, and it was difficult for us to face them. Uruguay play very intensely, they have physically strong and fast players. We didn’t feel comfortable on the pitch. Now we need to step up and play good football in the next game against Brazil” Messi told the press after the game.

Brazil won’t be a walk in the park for any team, not even the defending champions. But if there’s a squad that would be a tough matchup for Brazil, it would be a Messi-led Argentina. The Brazilians are still figuring things out after losing Neymar to a devastating injury, and Lionel Scaloni’s squad will take full advantage of that coming into their match.

Who will be Brazil’s saviour?

Brazil’s ace Neymar Jr. suffered a season-ending injury during their 2-0 defeat against Uruguay. It’s always unfortunate for any player to suffer injuries, and to rob the football world of a player of Neymar’s calibre feels like a crime. The 31-year-old’s career has been riddled with injuries, but to suffer a devastating knee injury while representing his motherland seems too cruel.

It is unlikely that Neymar will see the pitch again this season, as his club, Al-Hilal, have confirmed the extent of the forward’s injury. “The medical tests Neymar underwent, confirmed the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus tear injury in his knee, he will be going through surgery and then a treatment program that will be determined later,”

This leaves Brazil without a captain and a number 10, but coach Fernando Diniz is expecting his youngsters to adequately fill the role their top scorer has left.

“Nobody has to worry about taking over Neymar’s role. We have an extremely talented generation,” Diniz exclaimed to the media. “Many can take on this role, but it’s important that we don’t put that weight on them.”

True enough, Brazil still have enough firepower to match up against any team in the region or even the world. Players like Vinicius Junior, Raphinha, and Gabriel Martinelli are more than capable of stepping up in the absence of Neymar.

History

These nations are well acquainted, as they have met on the pitch 23 times across multiple tournaments and friendlies, and in those matches, Brazil have gotten the upper hand more often than not. Brazil leads their head-to-heads with 12 wins, while the defending world champions only have seven.

Both countries light up the scoreboard every time they share the field, as they’ve scored a total of 53 goals against one another. Although the last time these two clubs met, the match ended in a 0-0 draw, a rare occasion considering how potent their offence is.

In recent form, the defending world champions are still the kings of their region, as they stand tall at the top of the CONMEBOL standings with 12 points. They were hoping to go on a five-game winning streak, but they were humbled by a ferocious Uruguay squad, who surgically dismantled the defending champs with a 0-2 clean sheet victory.

That defeat aside, Argentina have been having a good start to their World Cup campaign. They were undefeated in their first four games, besting rival after rival while providing a handful of World Cup 2026 highlights along the way.

Meanwhile, Brazil took a dip in the power rankings after suffering back-to-back defeats that caused them to slip down to the fifth spot in the standings. After suffering a 0-2 clean sheet loss against Uruguay, they again tasted defeat in the next game against Colombia, where they felt the wrath of Colombia’s offence at its best. Even though it was Brazil who dominated the possessions, it was Colombia who had more threatening attacks at the goal, allowing them to get the 2-1 win at Estadio Metropolitano.

Betting tip 

Even though Brazil haven’t won a match in their last three games, the SBOTOP World Cup 2026 odds still back them as the favourites to win at 2.39. Obviously, these clubs are among the best in the world, so it’s hard to pick one over the other, which is why the odds suggest no heavy favourites. Personally, I would consider Argentina to win at 2.83, as they have been in better form than Brazil in their first five matches in the World Cup Qualifiers. And to price the top team in South America as the slight underdog would definitely present value, which should catch the attention of punters.

Another line that holds value is goals over 1.75 at 1.71. Both Brazil and Argentina have an act for getting the ball to the back of the net. This is a well-known fact. Each team only needs to score at least one goal apiece in order to overcome this line, and that is very generous considering the calibre of the teams playing in the match.

 

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