The current World Cup champions Argentina can become the first South American team to punch their ticket for the 2026 tournament when they face old rivals Brazil on Wednesday (Midnight, Premier Sports 1).
This is a far cry from the European qualifying groups with England up against the likes of Latvia, Albania and Andorra to secure their place.
Argentina currently top the qualifying table with 28 points from their 13 games played, while Brazil sit third, one point and one place behind Ecuador with 21 points.
The top six teams after 18 matches will qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup, while the seventh-placed finishers will face a play-off tie.
Neither team will be worrying about not qualifying for the tournament in North America. but that doesn’t mean this game will lack an edge. In fact, Fifa has previously described this fixture as the “essence of football rivalry”.
The two sides last met in November 2023 as part of the World Cup qualifiers and Argentina condemned Brazil to their first-ever World Cup qualification home defeat, following a run of 51 wins and 13 draws.
Nicolas Otamendi scored the only goal of the game at the Maracana, in a game that was delayed due to crowd violence.
A repeat of that scoreline will see Argentina secure qualification with four games to spare, but there’s no Lionel Messi for the world champions and Brazil will be determined to make their arch-nemesis wait a little longer for qualification.
Argentina have won seven of their previous eight home World Cup qualifiers and kept 11 clean sheets from their last 12 home matches. They also go into the game on the back of a narrow 1-0 win over Uruguay, to end a run of three games without a win.
After a shaky start to their qualifying campaign, which saw Brazil win one, draw one and lose four of their first six matches, Dorival Junior’s side go into the game unbeaten in their last five, which includes wins over Chile, Peru and Colombia.
They have only won one of their last five away qualifiers though, drawing one and losing the other three, which is hard to believe when you look at their side.
Both Raphinha and Vinicius Junior were on target in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Colombia, while Rodrygo, Joao Pedro, Gabriel and Bruno Guimaraes also started.
They will be without goalkeeper Alisson though, who has returned to Liverpool after suffering a concussion in the late stages of that game, while Gabriel and Guimaraes miss the trip as they are suspended.
Football betting sites are backing Argentina for the win at 24/19 while you can get 11/4 on a Brazil win and 9/4 on a draw.
We are expecting a close one on Wednesday and a draw – which has been the outcome in the last two World Cup qualifiers between the sides in Argentina – with both teams finding the net looks the best option.
Argentina vs Brazil prediction 1: Draw & BTTS – 4/1 Bet365
One of my favourite bets and probably most fruitful this season has backing Alexis Mac Allister to commit two or more fouls. It seems to have been a given every week in the Premier League.
With such rivalry between these two sides and so many fellow Premier League stars likely to line up for the opposition, we don’t expect anything to change in this game.
Betting sites are offering 11/4 on a player who averages 2.2 fouls per league game this season committing over 2.5 fouls.
Argentina vs Brazil prediction 2: Mac Allister to concede over 2.5 fouls – 11/4 Bet365
When having a bet, it’s vital to practice responsible gambling.
Betting can be addictive and it’s important to stay in control of your betting. Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop.
Gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self exclusion options, to help them stay in control.
But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don’t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
We aim to offer every online gambler and reader of The Independent a safe and fair platform through unbiased reviews and offers from the UK’s best online gambling companies.
Gambling can be addictive, always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. Gambling sites have a number of tools to assist you to stay in control, including deposit limits and time outs. If you think you have a problem, advice and support is available for you now from BeGambleAware or Gamcare.
Any offers or odds listed in this article are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Terms & Conditions apply to all offers.
