The drama surrounding the Qatar 2022 qualifiers has not yet come to an end. The final chapters are yet to be written, those that will finally shape the list of the 32 national teams that will compete for the glory of world soccer.
South America already knows the four teams that will inevitably represent it at the upcoming FIFA World Cup. In this group, there is pure history, as there are 9 world championships won among those who make it up: Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, which are complemented by Ecuador, the only team in the groupthat has not reached the top of this prestigious tournament.
However, the list of Conmebol teams in Qatar 2022 may grow, since Peru has half a ticket to the World Cup, which was obtained by finishing fifth in the Qualifiers standings of this zone. Thus, the Incas still have one last big battle to go to qualify for two World Cups in a row for the second time in their history.
Peru’s rival in Qatar 2022 Inter-Continental Playoff match
It is true, Ricardo Gareca’s team cannot celebrate anything yet, as 90 minutes separate them from the sensation of having fulfilled their mission and objective. However, there is good news for Peru from statistics and trends.
Since Conmebol teams have participated in the FIFA World CupInter-Confederation Playoffs, they have lost only once: on the road to Germany 2006, Uruguay was defeated by Australia. Since then, every time a South American fights for one of the very last tickets to soccer’s biggest tournament it wins.
With this background, Peru will be looking to maintain the trend in favor of South America when it faces the best third-placed team in the third round of the Asian World Cup Qualifiers on June 13 or 14, i.e. Australia, who has defeated United Arab Emirates in the Asian Playoff.
Joel King, Australia National Team. (Matt King/Getty Images)
