The South American World Cup Qualifiers are known to be one of the toughest in the world, considering the top caliber teams playing in it, and also because it's one of the longest in the world (eighteen games).
These notions have been proven right in the ongoing competition, as three big names in the world of football could miss the competition, leaving their fans with nothing but disappointment. Here are the standings for CONMEBOL's World Cup Qualifiers after 12 games.
Without further ado, here are the big names that could end up watching the 2018 World Cup at home.
Lionel Messi
Arguably the best player in the world, Messi's supporting cast has usually been involved in disappointing performances, which end up with "La Pulga" taking all the blame. Being unable to replicate his Barcelona form with La Albiceleste, not reaching a World Cup with Argentina for the first time since 1970 would certainly tarnish Messi's reputation as the best player in history. All he can hope for is to be given a hand by his team-mates...especially Gonzalo Higuaín.
Argentina's remaining fixtures: Chile (home), Bolivia (away), Uruguay (away), Venezuela (home), Perú (home), Ecuador (away).
Messi has scored three goals and handed out three assists for Argentina, who has only been able to win one single WCQ match without him (against Colombia).
Alexis Sánchez
Currently ranked 4th in the tournament, Chile's prospects of success were high, considering their back-to-back Copa América wins. Nevertheless, Jorge Sampaoli's exit as coach caused La Roja to find themselves adrift, and only a strong finish will prevent them from being the first South American champion to miss the World Cup in decades.
Chile's remaining fixtures: Argentina (away), Venezuela (home), Paraguay (home), Bolivia (away), Ecuador (home), Brazil (away).
La Roja will need Sánchez's goals if they want to book tickets for their third straight World Cup.
James Rodriguez
The Colombian ace may not feature regularly with Real Madrid, but he's a crucial element for José Pekerman. With three goals and three assists, Rodriguez's influence in Los Cafeteros' tactics is unquestionable, but he needs to step it up if he wants to lead Colombia past Argentina and try to repeat their dazzling performance from the 2014 World Cup.
Colombia's remaining fixtures: Bolivia (home), Ecuador (away), Venezuela (away), Brazil (home), Paraguay (home), Perú (away)
Rodriguez will have to keep focused on what happens on the pitch, leaving his agent to deal with all transfer rumors surrounding his future.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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Argentina 1 - 0 Chile
March 23, 2017 7:30pmEstadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti (Capital Federal, Ciudad de Buenos Aires)This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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