BUENOS AIRES: Defending champion Argentina had to put the celebrations on hold for a while after securing a place at the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday before kickoff against archrival Brazil.

Bolivia’s failure to beat Uruguay meant Argentina had enough cushion in South American qualifying to secure one of the continent’s six direct spots for the 48-team World Cup set to be co-hosted next year by the US, Canada and Mexico.

After Bolivia’s 0-0 draw with Uruguay at El Alto, Argentina beat Brazil 4-1 in front of 85,000 fans at the Monumental de Nunez Stadium despite the absence of Lionel Messi.

Brazil’s worst deficit in South American World Cup qualifying history compounded pressure on coach Dorival Junior, who took over in January of last year.

Brazil are in fourth place in South American qualifying with 21 points, 10 behind Argentina but only two behind second-place Ecuador, which were held to a 0-0 draw by Chile. Third-place Uruguay and fifth-place Paraguay also have 21 points, and Colombia is one point behind them in sixth. Seventh-place Venezuela has 15 points after a 1-0 win over 9th-place Peru.

Brazil were missing three regular starters — goalkeeper Alisson, defender Gabriel Magalhaes and midfielder Bruno Guimaraes — and wasn’t really competitive from start to finish.

It’s the first time Argentina have won both matches against Brazil in a World Cup qualifying tournament. The home victory was also Argentina’s first against the Brazilians since qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

Argentina have led South American qualifying from the start, with few hiccups and major away wins at Brazil and Uruguay. But coach Lionel Scaloni has not fielded 37-year-old Messi in several games, which still raises doubts on whether the star will play at the World Cup next year.

Messi has an injury to his adductor and was not included in Argentina’s squad for the two latest matches.

ARGENTINE FLAIR, BRAZILIAN DESPAIR

Argentina scored thir two first goals in only 12 minutes of play, both thanks to accurate passing and some clumsy Brazilian defending.

Julian Alvarez netted the first in the 4th minute after Marquinhos, Murillo and Guilherme Arana failed to reach the ball. The Argentina striker shot between the legs of goalkeeper Bento from close range.

Argentina scored again eight minutes later with Enzo Fernandez, once again from close range after a low cross by Gonzalo Molina.

Brazil got one back via Matheus Cunha in the 26th after a mistake by Cristian Romero, who lost the ball to the Brazilian by the edge of the box. Enzo Fernandez found Alexis Mac Allister bursting into the penalty box unmarked 11 minutes later to make it 3-1 to Argentina.

During the break, Brazil sought to get some grip by boosting their presence in the midfield with Joao Gomes and the substitution of Murillo and striker Rodrygo. But it was to no avail, with Giuliano Simeone scoring for Argentina in the 71st minute.

“All of us can do better than this. It isn’t only about Dorival,” Brazil’s captain Marquinhos said. “This is not only the coach’s fault, it is the players too. We need to have our heads in the right place. They (Argentina) also had tough times before and they overcame it. We can do it too.”

AHMEDABAD: India batsman Shreyas Iyer led from the front with an unbeaten 97 to set up a 11-run win for Punjab Kings in a big-hitting IPL clash with Gujarat Titans on Tuesday.
Iyer’s 42-ball knock steered the team to 243-5 after being invited to bat first at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat finished on 232-5 despite a valiant 41-ball 74 by opener Sai Sudharsan who set up a blazing start to the run chase, featuring a 84-run second wicket stand with England’s Jos Buttler (54).
Both sides walloped 16 sixes each across the two innings on the fourth day of the cash-rich Indian Premier League T20 tournament.
Iyer, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to a title win last year, has already gone some way to justifying his top price tag, after Punjab paid a whopping 3.17 million dollars in the November auction.
The top-order batter started with a boundary off Gujarat’s South African import Kagiso Rabada and three balls later smashed a six.
He allowed attacking opener Priyansh Arya to take charge as the Indian young left-hander hammered 47 off 23 deliveries before being denied his fifty by Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan.
Gujarat’s Sai Kishore joined the bowling charge to strike twice in two balls, including trapping Australia’s Glenn Maxwell lbw for a first-ball duck, but Marcus Stoinis avoided the hat-trick.
Maxwell walked back without a review but tracking technology later revealed the ball would have gone over the stumps as a dejected Punjab coach Ricky Ponting looked upset.
Iyer stood strong as he took on the attack with sixes and fours and found support from Australian hard-hitter Stoinis, who smashed a 15-ball 20 before becoming Kishore’s third wicket.
Iyer reached his fifty in 27 balls and kept up the charge as he struck three sixes and a four in a 24-run over off seam bowler Prasidh Krishna.
Iyer went past his previous IPL best of 96 but missed out on his century as partner Shashank Singh dominated the strike in the latter stages and finished on an unbeaten 16-ball 44.
Iyer and Shashank hammered 81 runs between them in 28 balls to finish with a flourish.
In reply, the left-handed Sudharsan and skipper Shubman Gill, who hit 33 off 14 balls, handed Gujarat a blazing start but the ever-increasing run-rate made the home team fall behind the chase despite having wickets in hand.
Sudharsan fell to left-arm pace bowler Arshdeep Singh and Buttler, after reaching his fifty, was bowled by South African left-arm quick Marco Jansen.
Impact player Sherfane Rutherford, a left-handed West Indian hard-hitter, made a desperate effort to pull off a miracle with his 28-ball 46 before falling to Arshdeep in the final over.