- After an even match, Venezuela and Argentina tied one goal at the Monumental de Maturín.
- Argentina remains at the top of the South American Qualifiers standings, with 19 points.
The Albiceleste and the Vinotinto shared the points, after a fierce duel for Date 9 of the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Argentina remains at the top of the table with 19 points, and meanwhile Venezuela, in sixth position momentarily , with 11 points and reaffirms his hope of going to a World Cup for the first time.
The Albiceleste opened the account through Nicolás Otamendi who took advantage of a rebound at 13′, however, Salomón Rondón leveled at 65′, with a header from Yeferson Soteldo’s center with which he increased his record as the team’s all-time top scorer. Vinotinto, reaching 45 scores.
Argentina maintains the lead in the table with 19 points, while Venezuela is in sixth place, with 11, awaiting the result of Brazil, this Wednesday, in its visit to Chile. La Vinotinto will visit Paraguay on Tuesday the 15th, and on the Albiceleste side, they will receive Bolivia.
– Match numbers –
- After not scoring points against Argentina in the South American Qualifiers in the first ten matches, Venezuela managed to score points in four of the seven most recent matches against the Albiceleste (W1 D3 L3).
- It is the second time in South American Qualifiers, counting since 2010, that Venezuela surpasses Argentina in shots in a match (15 to 8). The previous occasion was in 2011 (13 to 6), in a match that Vinotinto won 1-0 at home.
- Nicolás Otamendi (Argentina) is the player who scored the most times to open the scoring in the current South American Qualifiers (3). Since qualifying for South Africa 2010, he also leads the field among defenders, surpassing Marquinhos (Brazil) and Diego Godín (Uruguay), both with two.
- Salomón Rondón scored his first goal against Argentina in the South American Qualifiers, in his sixth game against the Albiceleste. Now, only Brazil (five games) and Ecuador (three games) have never conceded goals from the Venezuelan striker in the tournament.
- In this match, Germán Pezzella equaled the mark of 12 clearances playing for Argentina in a South American Qualifiers match by Sebastián Domínguez against Bolivia in 2013, being the highest records by an Albiceleste player in a match in the last four editions of the tournament.
CONMEBOL.com / AFP / OPTA
