Argentina beat Brazil 4-1, which was embarrassing for Brazil

Argentina’s 4-1 thumping of Brazil in the South American World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday increased pressure on manager Dorival Jr. after his team was well outplayed and lucky not to lose by a larger margin.

On Thursday, Brazil defeated Colombia 2-1 at home before losing badly to the world champions, who began the thumping with a close-range goal from Julian Alvarez four minutes after kickoff.

After avoiding two defenders and taking a through pass from Thiago Almada in his stride, Alvarez beat Bento, the goalkeeper, with a soft touch to his right.

“We played a fantastic game and dutifully performed our duties. “We put on a show for them,” Alvarez said to reporters.

“We are extremely delighted of the historic outcome, which was a 4-1 victory. I’m also thrilled for the supporters, who supported the squad and witnessed our outstanding performance at home. The fact that we have qualified for the World Cup is wonderful.

Argentina became the first South American team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in North America after Uruguay and Bolivia shared a scoreless draw earlier Tuesday.

Despite the absence of injured Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martinez, Argentina was far ahead of their opponents and needed little time to increase their lead, as Enzo Fernandez made it 2-0 in the twelfth minute.

After a fantastic team effort involving Rodrigo de Paul, Almada, and Alvarez, Fernandez completed Nahuel Molina’s low cross at the far post.

At Buenos Aires’ Monumental Stadium, where a sold-out crowd cheered “Ole” as Argentina controlled the game and passed the ball around, Brazil pulled one back in the 26th minute when defender Cristian Romero made a mistake that allowed Matheus Cunha to score.

But in the 37th minute, after another incredible team move, Alexis Mac Allister scored off a Fernandez cross to give Argentina a two-goal advantage again.

Brazil suffered their worst loss in a World Cup qualifying match after Argentina, who haven’t lost to them in six years, squandered multiple chances to increase their advantage before substitute Giuliano Simeone completed the scoring in the 71st minute.

Argentina leads South America with 31 points from 14 games, 16 points ahead of seventh-place Venezuela, who secured their berth in the international playoffs after defeating Peru 1-0.
Brazil is in fourth place with 21 points.