2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

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The South American section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification acted as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States for national teams who are members of CONMEBOL. A total of 6 direct slots in the final tournament and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot were available for CONMEBOL teams.[1][2]

Dates7 September 2023 – 9 September 2025
Teams10 (from 1 confederation)
Matchesplayed90
Goals scored183 (2.03 per match)
Quick facts Tournament details, Dates ...
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
Tournament details
Dates7 September 2023 – 9 September 2025
Teams10 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played90
Goals scored183 (2.03 per match)
Attendance3,437,526 (38,195 per match)
Top scorerArgentina Lionel Messi (8 goals)
2022
2030
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CONMEBOL was the first confederation to begin its qualification process for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Paraguay–Peru being the first match of the global qualification process.[3][4]

Format

On 22 August 2022, CONMEBOL sent a request to FIFA asking to keep the current qualification format that had been used since the 1998 World Cup qualification in South America.[5][6][7] This was confirmed, with the first games of the qualifiers tentatively to be played in March or June 2023.[8][9][10]

On 27 February 2023, CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez announced that the qualifiers would start in September 2023,[11][12] which was ratified by the CONMEBOL Council in the run-up to the 73rd FIFA Congress held on 16 March in Kigali, Rwanda.[13][14]

The qualification structure remained the same as in previous editions (despite the increase of slots available to CONMEBOL teams), wherein each team played each other team twice in a home-and-away round-robin format.[15]

Prior to the commencement of the qualification competition, Ecuador were deducted 3 points for the use of a document containing false information for Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.[16]

Schedule

The qualifying matches were held on a total of 18 matchdays on dates that fall within the FIFA International Match Calendar.[17] The match schedule was same that was used in the previous edition of the competition. Six matchdays were played in each of 2023, 2024, and 2025.[15]

More information Matchday, Date ...
2023
Matchday Date Ref.
Matchday 1 7–8 September 2023 [18][19]
Matchday 2 12 September 2023
Matchday 3 12 October 2023 [20][21]
Matchday 4 17 October 2023
Matchday 5 16 November 2023 [22][23]
Matchday 6 21 November 2023
2024
Matchday Date Ref.
Matchday 7 5–6 September 2024 [24][25]
[26][27][28]
Matchday 8 10 September 2024
Matchday 9 10–11 October 2024 [29][30]
Matchday 10 15 October 2024
Matchday 11 14–15 November 2024 [31][32][33]
Matchday 12 19 November 2024
2025
Matchday Date Ref.
Matchday 13 20–21 March 2025 [34][35]
Matchday 14 25 March 2025
Matchday 15 5–6 June 2025 [36][37]
Matchday 16 10 June 2025
Matchday 17 4 September 2025 [38][39]
Matchday 18 9 September 2025
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Entrants

All 10 national teams from CONMEBOL entered qualification.

More information Team, FIFA ranking as of July 2023 ...
Team FIFA ranking
as of July 2023[40]
 Argentina1
 Brazil3
 Uruguay16
 Colombia17
 Peru21
 Chile32
 Ecuador40
 Paraguay49
 Venezuela57
 Bolivia83
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Standings

More information Pos, Pld ...
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Argentina Ecuador Colombia Uruguay Brazil Paraguay Bolivia Venezuela Peru Chile
1  Argentina 18 12 2 4 31 10 +21 38 2026 FIFA World Cup 1–0 1–1 0–2 4–1 1–0 6–0 3–0 1–0 3–0
2  Ecuador 18 8 8 2 14 5 +9 29[a] 1–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 4–0 2–1 1–0 1–0
3  Colombia 18 7 7 4 28 18 +10 28 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 0–0 4–0
4  Uruguay 18 7 7 4 22 12 +10 28 0–1 0–0 3–2 2–0 0–0 3–0 2–0 3–0 3–1
5  Brazil 18 8 4 6 24 17 +7 28 0–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 5–1 1–1 4–0 3–0
6  Paraguay 18 7 7 4 14 10 +4 28 2–1 0–0 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–0 1–0
7  Bolivia 18 6 2 10 17 35 18 20 Inter-confederation play-offs 0–3 1–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–2 4–0 2–0 2–0
8  Venezuela 18 4 6 8 18 28 10 18 1–1 0–0 3–6 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 3–0
9  Peru 18 2 6 10 6 21 15 12 0–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–1 0–0
10  Chile 18 2 5 11 9 27 18 11 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 4–2 2–0
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Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. Ecuador were penalized 3 points for the use of false birth documents for Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.[41]

Matches

Matchday 1

More information Paraguay, 0–0 ...
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More information Colombia, 1–0 ...
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More information Argentina, 1–0 ...
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More information Uruguay, 3–1 ...
Uruguay 3–1 Chile
Report (FIFA)
Report (CONMEBOL)
Vidal 74'
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More information Brazil, 5–1 ...
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Attendance: 48,183

Matchday 2

More information Bolivia, 0–3 ...
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More information Ecuador, 2–1 ...
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More information Venezuela, 1–0 ...
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Attendance: 48,523

More information Chile, 0–0 ...
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More information Peru, 0–1 ...
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Attendance: 36,328

Matchday 3

More information Colombia, 2–2 ...
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More information Bolivia, 1–2 ...
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Attendance: 34,200

More information Argentina, 1–0 ...
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More information Chile, 2–0 ...
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More information Brazil, 1–1 ...
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Attendance: 39,018
Referee: Kevin Ortega (Peru)

Matchday 4

More information Venezuela, 3–0 ...
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Attendance: 50,932
Referee: Flavio de Souza (Brazil)

More information Paraguay, 1–0 ...
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More information Ecuador, 0–0 ...
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More information Uruguay, 2–0 ...
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Attendance: 52,477
Referee: Alexis Herrera (Venezuela)

More information Peru, 0–2 ...
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Attendance: 37,675

Matchday 5

More information Bolivia, 2–0 ...
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Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Guillermo Guerrero (Ecuador)

More information Venezuela, 0–0 ...
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More information Colombia, 2–1 ...
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More information Argentina, 0–2 ...
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Attendance: 49,000

More information Chile, 0–0 ...
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Matchday 6

More information Paraguay, 0–1 ...
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More information Uruguay, 3–0 ...
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Attendance: 46,100
Referee: Kevin Ortega (Peru)

More information Ecuador, 1–0 ...
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More information Brazil, 0–1 ...
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More information Peru, 1–1 ...
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Attendance: 27,323

Matchday 7

More information Bolivia, 4–0 ...
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More information Argentina, 3–0 ...
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More information Uruguay, 0–0 ...
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More information Brazil, 1–0 ...
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More information Peru, 1–1 ...
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Matchday 8

More information Colombia, 2–1 ...
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More information Chile, 1–2 ...
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More information Ecuador, 1–0 ...
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More information Venezuela, 0–0 ...
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Attendance: 50,000

More information Paraguay, 1–0 ...
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Matchday 9

More information Bolivia, 1–0 ...
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More information Ecuador, 0–0 ...
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More information Venezuela, 1–1 ...
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Attendance: 50,000

More information Chile, 1–2 ...
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More information Peru, 1–0 ...
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Attendance: 43,000

Matchday 10

More information Colombia, 4–0 ...
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More information Paraguay, 2–1 ...
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More information Uruguay, 0–0 ...
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Attendance: 27,112

More information Argentina, 6–0 ...
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Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Kevin Ortega (Peru)

More information Brazil, 4–0 ...
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Matchday 11

More information Venezuela, 1–1 ...
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Attendance: 40,223

More information Paraguay, 2–1 ...
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More information Ecuador, 4–0 ...
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Attendance: 30,758
Referee: Maximiliano Ramírez (Argentina)

More information Uruguay, 3–2 ...
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Attendance: 33,400
Referee: Kevin Ortega (Peru)

More information Peru, 0–0 ...
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Matchday 12

More information Bolivia, 2–2 ...
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More information Colombia, 0–1 ...
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More information Argentina, 1–0 ...
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More information Chile, 4–2 ...
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More information Brazil, 1–1 ...
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Attendance: 41,511
Referee: Piero Maza (Chile)

Matchday 13

More information Paraguay, 1–0 ...
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More information Brazil, 2–1 ...
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Attendance: 70,027
Referee: Alexis Herrera (Venezuela)

More information Peru, 3–1 ...
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Attendance: 33,683[53]

More information Ecuador, 2–1 ...
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More information Uruguay, 0–1 ...
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Matchday 14

More information Bolivia, 0–0 ...
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Attendance: 10,723
Referee: Augusto Aragón (Ecuador)

More information Colombia, 2–2 ...
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More information Venezuela, 1–0 ...
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Attendance: 33,683

More information Argentina, 4–1 ...
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More information Chile, 0–0 ...
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Matchday 15

More information Paraguay, 2–0 ...
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More information Ecuador, 0–0 ...
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More information Chile, 0–1 ...
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More information Colombia, 0–0 ...
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More information Venezuela, 2–0 ...
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Attendance: 46,741

Matchday 16

More information Bolivia, 2–0 ...
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More information Uruguay, 2–0 ...
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Attendance: 29,672

More information Argentina, 1–1 ...
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More information Brazil, 1–0 ...
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More information Peru, 0–0 ...
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Attendance: 33,749

Matchday 17

More information Uruguay, 3–0 ...
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More information Colombia, 3–0 ...
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More information Paraguay, 0–0 ...
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More information Argentina, 3–0 ...
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Attendance: 76,490
Referee: Piero Maza (Chile)

More information Brazil, 3–0 ...
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Attendance: 57,326
Referee: Alexis Herrera (Venezuela)

Matchday 18

More information Ecuador, 1–0 ...
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More information Peru, 0–1 ...
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Referee: Maximiliano Ramírez (Argentina)

More information Venezuela, 3–6 ...
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More information Bolivia, 1–0 ...
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More information Chile, 0–0 ...
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Inter-confederation play-offs

The seventh-place team, Bolivia, joined DR Congo (from CAF), Iraq (from AFC), Jamaica and Suriname (both from CONCACAF), and New Caledonia (from OFC) in the inter-confederation play-offs.

The teams were ranked according to the November 2025 FIFA Men's World Ranking, with the four lowest-ranked teams playing in two single-elimination matches. The winners met the two highest-ranked teams in another set of single-elimination matches, with the winners of these matches qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[55]

Semi-finalFinal
      
31 March 2026 – Guadalupe
 Iraq2
26 March 2026 – Guadalupe
 Bolivia1
 Bolivia2
 Suriname1

Qualified teams

  Qualified for the World Cup
  Failed to qualify
  Not a CONMEBOL member

The following teams from CONMEBOL qualified for the final tournament.

More information Team, Qualified as ...
Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup[A]
 ArgentinaWinners25 March 202518 (1930, 1934, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 EcuadorRunners-up10 June 20254 (2002, 2006, 2014, 2022)
 ColombiaThird place4 September 20256 (1962, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2014, 2018)
 UruguayFourth place14 (1930, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1986, 1990, 2002, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 BrazilFifth place10 June 202522 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
 ParaguaySixth place4 September 20258 (1930, 1950, 1958, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
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  1. Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Goalscorers

There were 183 goals scored in 90 matches, for an average of 2.03 goals per match.

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Discipline

A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following infractions:[56]

  • Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious infractions)
  • Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions are carried forward to further qualification rounds, but not the finals or any other future international matches)

The following suspensions were served during qualification:

More information Team, Player ...
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Notes

  1. The Bolivia v Ecuador match, originally scheduled at 16:00 local time,[21] was rescheduled to 19:00 local time by decision of the Bolivian Football Federation.[42][43]
  2. The Paraguay v Bolivia match, originally scheduled at Estadio Antonio Aranda, Ciudad del Este,[21] was rescheduled at Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción by decision of the Paraguayan Football Association.[42][43]
  3. The Brazil v Ecuador match, originally scheduled at 21:45 local time,[25] was rescheduled to 22:00 local time.[44][28]
  4. The Peru v Colombia match, originally scheduled to be played at Estadio Monumental, Lima,[25] was relocated to Estadio Nacional, Lima due to the possibility that the pitch at the Estadio Monumental would not be fit for the date of the match.[45][46]
  5. The Chile v Bolivia match, originally scheduled at 21:00 local time,[25] was rescheduled to 18:00 local time.[47][27]
  6. The Paraguay v Brazil match, originally scheduled at 20:00 local time,[25] was rescheduled to 20:30 local time.[48][27]
  7. The Peru v Chile match, originally scheduled to be played at Estadio Nacional, Lima,[25] was relocated to Estadio Monumental, Lima due to security reasons concerning the APEC Peru 2024 meeting.[49][50]
  8. The Argentina v Peru match, originally scheduled to be played at Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires,[32] was relocated to La Bombonera, Buenos Aires due to the Estadio Monumental, which had previously been chosen to host the 2024 Copa Libertadores final, had to be reserved by CONMEBOL for preparations 15 days before the match.[51][52]

References

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