Last time out we had our first team qualify for the Draft World Cup finals. However, there was a major shock as it wasn’t Neymar’s France that qualified, but relative minnows Poland.
We’ve already seen qualification get underway in five of the six continents, and now it’s the final one, South America, that joins the fray. South American qualifying only contains 10 teams, who go into one big mad group, where the top four qualify automatically and the fifth-place team go into the Intercontinental play-off. We’ll start by going through the teams (in descending order of ranking) and quickly profiling them. Because of the profiles, we’ll only cover the first three rounds of matches, but we’ll make up for those in later South American episodes.
Uruguay
No-one expected Uruguay to go far in the 2017 DWC, but incredibly they overcame the likes of China, Russia, Brazil, USA and Italy to reach the final, where Germany proved one step too far. This time around they can add to their side a bit of stardust in the form of Maxi Rodriguez and Diego Forlan. However, will the side’s change to a 4-4-2 formation be a mistake?
Peru
Peru provided us with plenty of excitement as they made it as far as the semi-finals in 2017, before also losing to Germany. Undoubtedly they provided the biggest shock of last year’s tournament when they upset red-hot favourites Portugal with a 2-0 win, despite being down to 10 men. Hopes are high that they can do something similar this year, but realistically getting through this qualification group would be a great achievement.
Argentina
Expected to at least reach the knockout stages, Argentina suffered a surprise exit when they were eliminated after two matches brought defeats from France and Switzerland. Argentina have moved away from the back three they used last time out, and once again they will be looking for Lisandro Lopez up front to provide the goals to see them progress.
Chile
Chile came through the play-offs – beating Austria – to get into the finals of the 2017 DWC. They were in a devilish group, but put up a fight as they were only just beaten by France and claimed a draw against Switzerland. However, defeat to Argentina ended their hopes, and they will be looking for revenge here. They stick with their entertaining Bielsarian 3-4-3 used in 2017.
Brazil
In qualification for last year’s DWC, every single group’s top seed made it through until the final group, where Brazil had a nightmare. They finished fourth behind Mexico, Uruguay and Austria to get themselves eliminated. Losing to 1950-tormentors Uruguay particularly hurt, and they will be gunning for the Uruguayans this time around. With no squad value limit, this is a much stronger Brazil squad than previously.
Colombia
Colombia put in the worst performance of any South American side as they limped in second-bottom of their qualifying group, behind the likes of Former Yugoslavia and Australia. They did provide thrills with a number of fantastic long-range goals, but defensively they were inept. Improvements must be made this time round, although expectations aren’t particularly high.
Paraguay
Paraguay didn’t have a playable league in FM17, and so wasn’t given its own side for the last DWC. Instead, they were part of the South American side which qualified well behind England to the finals, but lost out very narrowly to North Africa to go out in the group stage. Walter Gonzalez was the star for South America, and he leads the line for Paraguay alongside veteran Oscar Cardozo. Roque de la Cruz provides nostalgic back-up on the bench.
Ecuador
Also part of the South American side last time round, Ecuador might find themselves in the mix here with some good performances. A lot will ride on lone striker Hernan Barcos, who plays in the Ecuadorian league on loan from Sporting Lisbon.
Bolivia
Bolivia contributed the fewest players to the South American squad last year, and so go into this campaign as one of the less-fancied side. However, their front three of Pablo Escobar, Joselito Vaca and Jose Ali Meza are quality players, and in midfield is Alejandro Chumacero, a fantastic all-round player. With their daunting high-altitude home ground, Bolivia will be confident of at least causing a few upsets.
Venezuela
Undoubtedly the group’s minnows, as they failed to contribute any players to the combined South American XI, so are the only side here who missed out entirely on the 2017 DWC. A lot rests on lone striker Rondon – not the one from West Brom, but Mario Rondon, who last played in 2016 for Chinese side Shijiazhuang Ever Bright.
So with the team profiles done, let’s see how the opening three rounds of matches played out!
The group’s bottom two-ranked sides bet as Venezuela travelled up high to La Paz. As expected, this was a very even game, and the only goal went to Venezuela as a game of penalty box pinball ended with an opportunistic header from Rondon finding the back of the net. Brazil and Colombia contested a battle of two sides with much to improve on after 2017, and they too played out a nervy and close affair. Brazil took the lead in the 24th minute through Diego’s thunderous strike into the top corner, but Colombia soon had a penalty. Carlos Henao beat Cassio with his shot, but not the crossbar. This proved crucial as Brazil hung on for a 1-0 win. Chile went even further than Colombia and missed two penalties in their match against Ecuador. However, they also scored two goals (one of which was a penalty) to win 2-0.
2017 darlings Peru found themselves largely outplayed in Argentina, as the hosts took the lead through Lopez’s low strike. Peru showed their fighting spirit last time round, and levelled when Jose Manuel Vargas set up Luis Tejada – two of their stars from last year – to blast home the equaliser as the sides drew 1-1. Paraguay and Uruguay traded early goals when the sides met, but Paraguay were able to score the decisive winning goal when Gonzalez leapt highest to power a header home.
We’ve already seen qualification get underway in five of the six continents, and now it’s the final one, South America, that joins the fray. South American qualifying only contains 10 teams, who go into one big mad group, where the top four qualify automatically and the fifth-place team go into the Intercontinental play-off. We’ll start by going through the teams (in descending order of ranking) and quickly profiling them. Because of the profiles, we’ll only cover the first three rounds of matches, but we’ll make up for those in later South American episodes.
Uruguay
No-one expected Uruguay to go far in the 2017 DWC, but incredibly they overcame the likes of China, Russia, Brazil, USA and Italy to reach the final, where Germany proved one step too far. This time around they can add to their side a bit of stardust in the form of Maxi Rodriguez and Diego Forlan. However, will the side’s change to a 4-4-2 formation be a mistake?
Peru
Peru provided us with plenty of excitement as they made it as far as the semi-finals in 2017, before also losing to Germany. Undoubtedly they provided the biggest shock of last year’s tournament when they upset red-hot favourites Portugal with a 2-0 win, despite being down to 10 men. Hopes are high that they can do something similar this year, but realistically getting through this qualification group would be a great achievement.
Argentina
Expected to at least reach the knockout stages, Argentina suffered a surprise exit when they were eliminated after two matches brought defeats from France and Switzerland. Argentina have moved away from the back three they used last time out, and once again they will be looking for Lisandro Lopez up front to provide the goals to see them progress.
Chile
Chile came through the play-offs – beating Austria – to get into the finals of the 2017 DWC. They were in a devilish group, but put up a fight as they were only just beaten by France and claimed a draw against Switzerland. However, defeat to Argentina ended their hopes, and they will be looking for revenge here. They stick with their entertaining Bielsarian 3-4-3 used in 2017.
Brazil
In qualification for last year’s DWC, every single group’s top seed made it through until the final group, where Brazil had a nightmare. They finished fourth behind Mexico, Uruguay and Austria to get themselves eliminated. Losing to 1950-tormentors Uruguay particularly hurt, and they will be gunning for the Uruguayans this time around. With no squad value limit, this is a much stronger Brazil squad than previously.
Colombia
Colombia put in the worst performance of any South American side as they limped in second-bottom of their qualifying group, behind the likes of Former Yugoslavia and Australia. They did provide thrills with a number of fantastic long-range goals, but defensively they were inept. Improvements must be made this time round, although expectations aren’t particularly high.
Paraguay
Paraguay didn’t have a playable league in FM17, and so wasn’t given its own side for the last DWC. Instead, they were part of the South American side which qualified well behind England to the finals, but lost out very narrowly to North Africa to go out in the group stage. Walter Gonzalez was the star for South America, and he leads the line for Paraguay alongside veteran Oscar Cardozo. Roque de la Cruz provides nostalgic back-up on the bench.
Ecuador
Also part of the South American side last time round, Ecuador might find themselves in the mix here with some good performances. A lot will ride on lone striker Hernan Barcos, who plays in the Ecuadorian league on loan from Sporting Lisbon.
Bolivia
Bolivia contributed the fewest players to the South American squad last year, and so go into this campaign as one of the less-fancied side. However, their front three of Pablo Escobar, Joselito Vaca and Jose Ali Meza are quality players, and in midfield is Alejandro Chumacero, a fantastic all-round player. With their daunting high-altitude home ground, Bolivia will be confident of at least causing a few upsets.
Venezuela
Undoubtedly the group’s minnows, as they failed to contribute any players to the combined South American XI, so are the only side here who missed out entirely on the 2017 DWC. A lot rests on lone striker Rondon – not the one from West Brom, but Mario Rondon, who last played in 2016 for Chinese side Shijiazhuang Ever Bright.
So with the team profiles done, let’s see how the opening three rounds of matches played out!
The group’s bottom two-ranked sides bet as Venezuela travelled up high to La Paz. As expected, this was a very even game, and the only goal went to Venezuela as a game of penalty box pinball ended with an opportunistic header from Rondon finding the back of the net. Brazil and Colombia contested a battle of two sides with much to improve on after 2017, and they too played out a nervy and close affair. Brazil took the lead in the 24th minute through Diego’s thunderous strike into the top corner, but Colombia soon had a penalty. Carlos Henao beat Cassio with his shot, but not the crossbar. This proved crucial as Brazil hung on for a 1-0 win. Chile went even further than Colombia and missed two penalties in their match against Ecuador. However, they also scored two goals (one of which was a penalty) to win 2-0.
2017 darlings Peru found themselves largely outplayed in Argentina, as the hosts took the lead through Lopez’s low strike. Peru showed their fighting spirit last time round, and levelled when Jose Manuel Vargas set up Luis Tejada – two of their stars from last year – to blast home the equaliser as the sides drew 1-1. Paraguay and Uruguay traded early goals when the sides met, but Paraguay were able to score the decisive winning goal when Gonzalez leapt highest to power a header home.
Paraguay had less luck against the other 2017 semi-finalist, as they were vastly outplayed in losing 3-1 to Peru. Colombia got their campaign off and running as they claimed a nervy 1-0 home win over Ecuador thanks to Teofilo Gutierrez’s clinical volley. Two early goals from Lopes were enough for Argentina to repeat their win over Chile, 2-0 this time.
Uruguay’s bad start continued as they failed to beat Bolivia at home in a stodgy match in which neither team shone or scored. There were more chances in Caracas, as Venezuela struggled to contain Brazil. However, they managed it by the skin of their teeth as this also played out a goalless draw.
Uruguay’s bad start continued as they failed to beat Bolivia at home in a stodgy match in which neither team shone or scored. There were more chances in Caracas, as Venezuela struggled to contain Brazil. However, they managed it by the skin of their teeth as this also played out a goalless draw.
If Brazil’s players needed any motivation to bounce back, surely it was that they were facing rivals Uruguay next? Luan put Brazil ahead in the 4th minute as they looked to get revenge for both real and Draft World Cup hurt. But Uruguay came storming back with two goals within 50 seconds of each other, both through Lucas Viatri. Brazil levelled through Paolo Guerro, and looked most likely to go on to win as the sides went into the break at 2-2. However, slack Brazilian marking allowed Viatri to fire a low shot in to complete his hat-trick, and soon after he had a fourth from another fast breakaway. A shell-shocked Brazil couldn’t retaliate as they suffered yet another damaging defeat to Uruguay.
Peru claimed another good win as they beat Bolivia 4-1 away, a hat-trick for Daniel Chavez the difference. Chile and Colombia both also notched impressive away victories as they beat Paraguay 3-0 and Venezuela 4-1 respectively. Argentina were surprised as how much they were tested by Ecuador, who equalised twice to put the scores at 2-2. In the 74th minute Argentina’s Jose Luiz Gomez picked up his second yellow card, and this was key as Ecuador went on to score a dramatic 93rd-minute winner through Barcos’ penalty. Incredibly, this meant that all five away teams won in this round, each scoring at least 3 goals.
Peru claimed another good win as they beat Bolivia 4-1 away, a hat-trick for Daniel Chavez the difference. Chile and Colombia both also notched impressive away victories as they beat Paraguay 3-0 and Venezuela 4-1 respectively. Argentina were surprised as how much they were tested by Ecuador, who equalised twice to put the scores at 2-2. In the 74th minute Argentina’s Jose Luiz Gomez picked up his second yellow card, and this was key as Ecuador went on to score a dramatic 93rd-minute winner through Barcos’ penalty. Incredibly, this meant that all five away teams won in this round, each scoring at least 3 goals.
With each side only playing 3 games of a total 18, it’s hard to read anything into the early table, but here it is:
Next time
So with the South American qualifying campaign already looking like the gruesome dogfight we expected it to be, we return to Asia to see the second qualifying group there. With the last Asian qualifying group seeing an average of over 6 goals per game scored, will we see the same level of ridiculousness? Only one way to find out...
So with the South American qualifying campaign already looking like the gruesome dogfight we expected it to be, we return to Asia to see the second qualifying group there. With the last Asian qualifying group seeing an average of over 6 goals per game scored, will we see the same level of ridiculousness? Only one way to find out...