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Argentina may have qualified for the 2026 World Cup earlier in the day with Uruguay drawing with Bolivia, but that didn’t mean that they were going to let up facing rivals Brazil in the Superclasico de las Americas, even without injured star Lionel Messi. Goals from Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernadez within the first 12 minutes pushed Lionel Scaloni’s men out to a two-goal lead on their way to a dominant 4-1 victory, becoming the first team ever to score four goals against Brazil in World Cup qualifying. It’s also the first time they’ve scored four against Brazil in an official match since the 1959 Copa America.

Not having Messi (injury) wouldn’t stop Argentina from showing off their attacking skills, as the midfield of Fernandez and Alexis Mac Allister wasted no time getting into the box with Brazil’s defense falling asleep multiple times during the match. Brazil coach Dorival Junior has been trying to find a balance with this Brazil side, and while it felt like they were improving with a 2-1 victory over Colombia in World Cup qualifying, it’s clear that Argentina are on a different level, catching their neighbors sleeping time and time again. 

The reigning World Cup champions, La Albiceleste, who won at Uruguay 1-0 on Thursday, play most of their matches with immense pressure on them, but on Tuesday at the Monumental, it was a party from start to finish. Coming in already qualified for the World Cup to scoring four minutes in and even seeing talented youngster Nico Paz make his return to the national team, there was plenty to celebrate on Tuesday, while their rivals will need to pick up the pieces from this loss as they look for consistency.