Date 9 of the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup closed and some results were surprising and even altered the positions, such as Bolivia‘s 1-0 victory over Colombia, which leaves the highland team with a direct berth.
Of course, not everyone enjoys that privilege of the rebound of Bolivia or the teams that are at the top of the table such as Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay, who are the ones that maintain a head-to-head for the first places in the qualifiers.
The outlook for Paraguay, Chile and Paraguay is quite worrying, as they do not find a clear path to get into the fight for a place in the 2026 World Cup, a situation that worsens with the passing of matches in which they have not managed to score victories.
However, there are two teams that are at the most critical point and that is Chile along with Peru, with coaches Ricardo Gareca and Jorge Fossati, despite the fact that the latter took a break on this date. Although they are also joined by Marcelo Bielsa, who has been judged by Luis Suárez and after losing against the Incas, the tension increases.
Thus, the issue for the coaches is undoubtedly the great expectation for matchday 10, since they are obliged to win or they may be left without the possibility of continuing to try to recover their teams.
In that case, Ricardo Gareca is one of the most exposed due to all the criticism received after a defeat against Brazil, plus the six consecutive games he has gone without knowing victory. In addition to this, the friction with figures like Arturo Vidal has been more protagonist than the results themselves and the litmus test is against the Colombian National Team in Barranquilla, in which there is even talk that, if he does not win, he could leave his position.
Jorge Fossati is the other one in the spotlight, as he has not known what it means to win for six games and patience is running out in Peruvian territory. Furthermore, they arrive quite conditioned after the equality against Uruguay at home and will now have to visit Brazil which, despite its irregular performance, will always be a very careful rival.
Finally, and although it may seem strange, Marcelo Bielsa could be another of those mentioned, despite the fact that Uruguay is still at the top, but the external problems may have destabilized the Uruguayan team, plus that 1-0 loss against Peru, could leave it in a uncomfortable position if they don’t beat Ecuador.
