Conmebol qualifying was full of blowouts on Tuesday night, as three of the top four scored 14 goals without reply. It also included a sumptuous evening for Lionel Messi.
The Argentina captain grabbed a hat-trick in his side’s 6-0 win over Bolivia at El Monumental. Atletico Madrid duo Nahuel Molina and Julian Alvarez both started too, with the former assisting and Alvarez scoring the third on the stroke of half-time.
Lautaro Martinez partnered Alvarez up top, and he also got on the scoresheet, with Alvarez’s replacement Thiago Almada getting his goal just five minutes after coming on. Rodrigo de Paul also played 64 minutes.
Brazil have been struggling severely in this qualifying round, losing four times already. Finally they looked cohesive though, despite the absence of Vinicius Junior through injury. It was Raphinha who led the Selecao, scoring two penalties as Andreas Pereira and Luiz Henrique also scoring two lovely goals.
Endrick saw the final 12 minutes of the clash, coming on for Igor Jesus. Meanwhile Colombia and Rayo Vallecano star James Rodriguez was in fine form, assisting twice for Davinson Sanchez and Luis Diaz in a 4-0 win over Chile. Both he and RCD Mallorca’s Johan Mojica played 86 minutes.
Uruguay’s Madrid-based duo played the whole match against Ecuador in a 0-0 draw, with Fede Valverde and Jose Maria Gimenez flying back much less pleased. In the Nations League, Robert Lewandowski grabbed an assist but also a potential injury for Poland. On the opposite side was Luka Modric, who played the whole match, while Osasuna hitman Ante Budimir was given the final half-hour to make an impact.
Finally, Spain’s 3-0 win over Serbia did not incude a single player from the so-called ‘big three’ in Spanish football for the first time, as pointed out by Matt Clark. Athletic Club’s Dani Vivian, Villarreal’s Alex Baena and Real Sociedad duo Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Oyarzabal were in fact the only players based in La Liga that started.
Pedri, Pau Cubarsi and Bryan Zaragoza all got minutes off the bench, while Baena continued his incredible form, scoring a brilliant free-kick.