The international break threw up another round of exciting fixtures, in the run up to the Qatar 2022 World Cup. As various national teams fight for a place in next year’s footballing showpiece in the Middle East.

Oladipupo Mojeed brings you a review of some of the important and intriguing matches.

Chile 0-1 Brazil
Brazil extended their World Cup qualifying victories to seven games after a barely deserved win over Chile.

The Brazilians were ill-prepared for the match, as they had issues with some players joining up with the squad a few days before the fixture. This showed in their performance as they were second best in every department for most of the first half.

Everton had to come up with a couple of saves to stop them from conceding against the rampaging Chileans. Coach Tite tweeked a bit of magic. When he subbed on Gerson and the eventual match-winner Ribeiro at halftime for Bruno Guimares. Vinicius Junior’s contribution also tilted the game in the Selecao’s favour and the decision paid off.

Ribeiro capitalized on a parried Neymar shot to fire home the winner in the 64th minute for the only goal of the match. Brazil now sits top of the table, 6 points clear of Argentina while the upcoming meeting is expected to be another firecracker – a repeat of the 2020 Copa America final.

Venezuela 1-3 Argentina
Argentina also maintained their unbeaten start to their World Cup qualifying campaign after a 3-1 victory over hapless Venezuela.

Lionel Messi struggled to stamp his authority in his first match back for his country after winning Copa America. His performance mattered little as his teammates came up with the goods.

Lautaro Martinez scored the match opener late in the first half. After the Venezuelans were reduced to 10 men for a reckless challenge on Messi by Adrian Martinez.

Argentina was not at their best but the extra man gave them the edge needed to cruise to a victory. Joaquin Correa and Angel Correa found the back of the net later on in the game. Yeferson Soteldo pulled one back for the hosts with a penalty deep into injury time.

Argentina were 3 points off leaders after their victory but the Brazilians extended the lead with their victory over Chile.

Hungary 0-4 England
England cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Hungarians at the Puskas Arena on Thursday night. The win moved them 5 points clear at the top of World cup qualifying group 1.

It was a miserable night on and off the field for Hungary. The country’s Football Federation is likely to face a FIFA investigation over the behaviour of their supporters who were reported to racially racial abuse two England’s players.


England showed they’ve put the Euro 2020 final behind them with a superb second-half display. Raheem Sterling scored the opener in the 55th minute after a frustrating first half, tapping home a cut back from Mason Mount. The scorer turned provider for the second 8 minutes later when Harry Kane headed in his deflected cross.

Harry Maguire found Luke Shaw’s cross from a corner to make it 3 for the night. Declan Rice sealed the victory as his outside shot found the back of the net 3 minutes from the end.

The Hungarian goalkeeper made a series of saves from Kane who wasn’t at his clinical best. This prevented his side from a more humiliating outing.

Sweden 2-1 Spain
Spain suffered their first World Cup qualifying defeat since 1993 as they lost 2-1 to Sweden. This ended a 66 games unbeaten run.

Luis Enrique’s men fell despite their early lead through Carlos Soler. Who fired home 5 minutes into his debut after Jordi Alba cut the opponent’s defense wide open with a through ball.

read more: https://newsroundtheclock.com/top-five-world-cup-qualifying-games/