Diego Valdés and Eduard Bello shine in Conmebol qualifiers
Both the Chilean and the Venezuelan contributed goals for their respective teams in the third fixture of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Matchday 3 of the Conmebol 2026 World Cup qualifiers left us with many emotions, some of them involving players from the Liga MX. Several players who play in in the Mexican league shone with their teams, others suffered - and some were even sent off...
In the five matches that were played in Thursday’s South America qualifiers, those representing the Liga MX with their respective national teams endured an intense day. Mazatlán forward Eduard Bello scored one of the goals of the night for Venezuela against Brazil while Atlas goalkeeper Camilo Vargas was sent off, leaving Colombia side on 10 men in their clash with Uruguay.
Colombia 2-2 Uruguay
One of the games which involved a number of Liga MX players was the clash between coffee growers and charrúas. For Colombia, Camilo Vargas was ordered off with three minutes of normal time to play and provoked a penalty, which allowed Uruguay to equalize. América pair Sebastián Cáceres and Brian Rodríguez were relieved to salvage a point in Barranquilla. Cruz Azul footballers Kevin Castaño and Willer Ditta were unused subs.
Argentina 1-0 Paraguay
América’s Richard Sánchez had a bad afternoon during the Guarani’s visit to Buenos Aires; the red and white team suffered their second consecutive defeat and are still without a win after three qualifiers. The team are eighth in the standings with just one point. Sánchez meanwhile, played the full 90 minutes without being able to do anything productive for his team.
Bolivia 1-2 Ecuador
La Tri clinched three golden points from Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz, after beating Bolivia on home soil. Félix Torres and Jordi Caicedo were present with the Ecuadorians from the start, while Ángel Mena watched the action unfold from the bench.
Chile 2-0 Peru
La Roja obtained their first victory on the way to the 2026 World Cup thanks to one of the most outstanding performers in the Liga MX. Diego Valdés put Chile on their way to victory with a quarter of an hour to go, before Marco López sealed it in stoppage time. For the Peruvians, Santos Laguna midfielder Pedro Aquino, played the full 90 minutes.
Brazil 1-1 Venezuela
In what is considered an historic result for La Vinotinto, Venezuela rescued a point from Brazilian territory thanks to a spectacular goal by Eduard Bello. The Mazatlán striker scored an acrobatic overhead kick to beat goalkeeper Emerson five minutes from time to make it 1-1 at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá.
Matchday of the Conmebol World Cup qualifiers will be played on Tuesday, October 17.