Super product helps Argentina secure a ticket to the World Cup

In the 68th minute, Thiago Almada received the ball from Julian Alvarez. Instead of looking for a teammate to make a pass, the striker playing for Lyon suddenly took a decisive shot from a distance of more than 20 meters, sending the ball straight into the top corner of the Uruguayan team's goal.

The camera immediately turned to Emiliano Martinez. The Argentine goalkeeper grimaced and waved his arms. Dibu's reaction seemed to suggest that Almada's shot was unstoppable.

With both Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martinez absent due to injury, Almada's moment of brilliance helped Argentina barely earn 3 points at Uruguay's home ground. This was the 2nd goal in 2 consecutive appearances of the striker born in 2001.

Argentina paid the debt it owed Uruguay with a 0-2 loss in the first leg.

The victory at the Centenario Stadium helped Argentina consolidate its top spot in the South American World Cup qualifiers. Currently, coach Lionel Scaloni's team is 15 points ahead of the intercontinental play-off spot, while there are only 5 qualifying matches left. The "Albicelestes" will immediately have a ticket to North America in the summer of 2026, if they score against Brazil on March 26.

Meanwhile, Uruguay dropped to 4th place but still has a great chance to qualify for the World Cup. The gap between Darwin Nunez and his teammates and the 7th place team is 7 points.

The South American qualifying round has come to a close, with most of the big names now safely in place, except for Chile. "La Roja" is at the bottom of the rankings and is at great risk of not being able to attend the World Cup for the third consecutive year.