Uruguay, a two-time world champion, has made a strong return to the direct qualification race for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, with a significant 4-1 victory over Venezuela at home on Tuesday in the 16th round of South American qualifiers. After being seriously threatened with missing the finals for the first time since the 2006 Germany World Cup, Uruguay enhanced its chances of traveling to Qatar at the end of this year by achieving its second consecutive victory, allowing it to rise to fourth place, taking advantage of Peru's draw with Ecuador (1-1) at home.
It seems that life has returned to the Uruguayan national team after the decision to dismiss its legendary coach Oscar Tabarez in November, following 15 years at the helm. The team had failed to win for five consecutive matches, suffering four losses and conceding 11 goals while scoring only one. However, fortunes changed with the arrival of Diego Alonso, who achieved a successful start, with Luis Suárez scoring the winning goal against Paraguay (1-0) on Thursday, followed by Tuesday's confirmation of the team’s resurgence with the win over last-placed Venezuela (4-1). The young winger Facundo Pellistri excelled in his second appearance for the national team, providing a key pass and earning a penalty converted by Suárez for the fourth goal.
Uruguay secured its 22nd point in the first half, ending it with a clean sheet of three goals scored by Rodrigo Bentancur (1'), Giorgian De Arrascaeta (23'), and Edinson Cavani (45+1'). Suárez then added the fourth goal in the 53rd minute from a penalty, before José Martínez (65') reduced the deficit for the visitors.
Uruguay's chances of securing one of the remaining two direct qualification spots improved, especially since both giants Brazil and Argentina have already secured their positions without stopping their winning streaks, defeating Paraguay (4-0) and Colombia (1-0) respectively in this round. Uruguay is set to host Peru in the penultimate 17th round match on March 24, with the hope of visiting Chile five days later when Chile's qualification is already guaranteed.
### Ecuador Misses Golden Opportunity
The top four teams in this unified group will qualify for the finals, while the fifth team will enter an international playoff against the qualifier from the Asian playoff (the winner between the third-placed teams). Following a controversial 1-1 draw at home against Brazil on Thursday, where players were sent off from both teams and Brazil's goalkeeper Alisson received two red cards before the referee reversed his decision after VAR consultation, Ecuador seemed on its way to taking all three points from Lima, which would have guaranteed them a ticket to the finals for the fourth time in their history. They initially led against Peru with a goal from Michael Estrada in the second minute, but Estrada squandered a golden opportunity to seal the match in the second half when he failed to score in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
Ecuador paid the price for this miss, as Peru managed to equalize with a header from Edison Flores in the 69th minute. Despite the second consecutive draw, Ecuador remained in a good position, sitting third with 25 points, three points ahead of fourth-place Uruguay and four points ahead of Peru, which dropped to fifth place. Meanwhile, Ecuador leads Chile by six points, which boosted its chances of participating in the international playoff after returning from Bolivia with a 3-2 win, thanks to a double from Alexis Sanchez (14, 85) and a goal from Marcelino Núñez (77), against two goals from Marcelo Moreno (88) and Marc Enoumba (37).
Colombia's chances became much more complicated after continuing its scoring drought for the seventh consecutive match, losing to second-placed Argentina by a goal scored by Lautaro Martínez (29), leaving them in seventh place with 17 points, four points behind fifth-placed Peru. Brazil, the leader with 39 points, completely crushed Paraguay in Belo Horizonte with a clean sheet, scoring four goals through Raphinha (28), Philippe Coutinho (62), Antony (86), and Rodrygo (88).
