Uruguay battle Peru for automatic World Cup ticket to Qatar

When the South American World Cup qualifiers resume on Friday, Uruguay will be facing Peru with the hope of sealing its spot at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Brazil and Argentina have already secured their places at the Mundial with three matches to spare, while Ecuador sits in third, three points above Uruguay.

Peru is in fifth and can still pick the last automatic spot that Uruguay occupies if they emerge victorious in Friday’s fixture and their last game against Paraguay.

Uruguay can seal the fourth and even a third-place finish if they get four points from their last two games depending on results from Ecuador’s last two matches.

Peru played at the last World Cup in Russia but failed to get out of a group that had eventual champions France, Denmark, and Australia. They have had a low-scoring, but impressive qualifier where they have scored 17 goals from sixteen games played, gathering a total of 21 points, one less than Uruguay.

They are also unbeaten in their last six games with four wins and two draws, while Uruguay has fared worse in their last six, with just two victories and four losses.

However, Uruguay won their last two qualifiers against Paraguay and Venezuela, scoring five and conceding once. They will have the services of Atletico Madrid forward Luis Suarez who is also the country’s all-time scorer.

The former Liverpool and Barcelona forward have scored seven goals in this campaign. He is likely to be partnered with Edinson Cavani, who has not had a very successful season at Old Trafford with Manchester United. Peru will be looking forward to seeing Christian Cueva’s score.

In other CONMEBOL qualifying fixtures, Brazil will face Chile, Argentina will play Venezuela while Ecuador will face Paraguay and Colombia will play Bolivia.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu