Big games call for big players and that was no different this past week in South America, as Lionel Messi and Neymar Junior played the starring roles for their respective nations of Argentina and Brazil in their first competitive fixtures since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The terrifying roller coaster that is South American World Cup qualification is now underway. It’s back and it’s beautiful.

Though 2026 seems very far away, South America’s league format means qualifying has to get going early. In Europe teams are still a year away from such fixtures but in Latin America the high stakes games are now taking place.

For the next edition of the FIFA World Cup South America will receive six automatic qualifying spaces and one inter-continental play-off place. Ten teams will battle it out for these spots and they are all in with a chance of making the finals.

The highly competitive nature of South American qualifying was proven by the fact that in the first round of fixtures this September an impressive nine out of ten teams took at least a point from their opening two games.

However despite a victory Ecuador appear to have zero points on the board. That is because they started three behind; after being fined for fielding an ineligible player in the last campaign.

Lionel Messi, as ever, was crucial for Argentina. They opened their account with a 1-0 victory at home to a talented young Ecuador side who impressed at the last World Cup despite a tricky group exit. Just when you thought the little man might be starting to put the feet up, he sends a reminder of just how important he still is for his national team.

A trademark Messi free-kick was enough to seal a late 1-0 victory for the hosts in Buenos Aires. Whilst in their second game a Messi-less Argentina picked up an impressive 3-0 victory in the altitude of La Paz in Bolivia. An away fixture that usually causes a lot of trouble for even the most distinguished of visitors, due to the severe altitude of the Estadio Hernando Siles.

Brazil’s own talisman Neymar Junior was also crucial for his side. The Five-Time World Cup Champions started their campaign in expert fashion with a comfortable 5-1 home victory over Bolivia where Neymar scored two goals and assisted for another.

On the road in their second round game a well fought win over Peru took Brazil to the top of the leaderboard. Neymar provided the key assist for Marquinos’ goal in a 1-0 victory. Only goal difference separates the top two sides.

Colombia stand alone as the third place side in the table, they picked up four points after a home victory against neighbours Venezuela and a 0-0 draw away against Chile.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay will also be feeling positive after they started with an impressive 3-1 victory at home to Chile. Bielsa has caused a bit of controversy by leaving legends like Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani out of his squad, but Federico Valverde and Nicolás De La Cruz were on hand to provide the vital goals in their opening win.

Bielsa’s squad is full of young quality including the likes of Liverpool’s Darwin Nuñez and new Paris St Germain signing Manuel Ugarte. The recent Under-20 World Cup Champions of course will not be short of talent in the coming years.

In their next two games Bielsa’s Uruguay travel to Colombia and then host Brazil, it will be a huge test for a talented young team but their Argentine coach knows that better than anybody.

The nations that represented South America at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be hot favourites to qualify; Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Uruguay. You can probably include a Luis Diaz driven Colombia in that group too, especially after their positive start.

Just below those sides the likes of Chile, Peru and Paraguay will be scrapping for the final automatic qualifying place. Bolivia and Venezuela have a fighting chance too, assuming their home form is acceptable, if not they will make up the bottom two for sure.

2026 is a long way away, but we are already dreaming about seeing the likes of Messi and Neymar there. It seems especially unlikely that Leo Messi will still be playing at such a level then, but he has a contract with his club until 2025, so who knows, we are sure he could pull the strings well into his fifties if he wanted to, we are not writing him off.

Meanwhile Neymar’s chances are perhaps a little more realistic. He is still just 31 and let’s face it, Brazil have unfinished business to attend to at the next World Cup, Neymar would surely still be a key piece in any potential triumph. Time will tell but the road to the finals has now begun. The next round of qualifying fixtures will be held in October.