Central & South America

It’s moments like these that make you fall in love with soccer all over again. Moments like these that remind you of the emotional attachment billions of people around the world have to a simple, beautiful game. 

Peru hasn’t been to a World Cup since 1982, but all that will change after La Blanquirroja beat New Zealand 2-0 in the second leg of their World Cup intercontinental qualifying playoff on Wednesday evening. The 2-0 aggregate victory sent Peru to the 2018 World Cup, ending a 36-year wait. 

And so it’s settled. On November 15, Peru claimed the final spot in the 32-team field for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, bringing us to the final event before the June 14 kick off at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow: the draw to determine the eight groups of four for the finals.

The eyes of the footballing world are set on Lima, Peru, today with only one spot at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia still up for grabs. That ticket will be punched tonight when Peru hosts Oceania representative New Zealand at 9:15 ET on beIN SPORTS. 

After a 0-0 first leg draw in Wellington, Peru (the 10th ranked side on the planet) will be heavy favorites in the return leg, but New Zealand (ranked 122nd) know they are just one vital away goal from causing los Incas all sorts of trouble.

Australia captain, defensive midfielder and rugged bearded hero Mile Jedinak had the game of his life, scoring a hat trick to propel the Socceroos to the 2018 World Cup with a 3-1 defeat of Honduras on Wednesday in Sydney. Jedinak scored on a free kick and two penalty kicks before Honduras’ Alberth Elis scored a consolation goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The first leg of the intercontinental playoff was a 0-0 draw in Honduras.

Argentina showed it can do goals without Lionel Messi on Tuesday in Russia. That defense though could use some work after Nigeria’s Alex Iwobi destroyed the rearguard of La Albiceleste, Javier Mascherano in particular. 

Argentina took a two-goal lead in the opening 36 minutes in a friendly against Nigeria, but Iwobi scored twice to spearhead a 4-2 victory for the Super Eagles at Krasnodar Stadium. His second goal absolutely eviscerated Mascherano as the Arsenal attacker nutmegged the Barcelona man on his way to the final goal of the match. 

Radamel Falcao is back to his brilliant best for both club and country, and he’ll surely lead the line for Colombia in Russia. Accordingly, Los Cafeteros could very well match or better their 2014 run to the quarterfinals — the country’s best-ever World Cup finish — which Falcao missed because of a knee injury.

For almost an entire year, Argentina’s national team refused to speak with the press. The boycott was the result of a terrible run in qualifying which led to extremely harsh criticism from the media, including an unfounded substantiation that Ezequiel Lavezzi had been dropped for smoking pot after training.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has come through on his promise to make the World Cup bidding process more transparent and open to scrutiny after the fallout following the 2010 vote which saw the 2018 and 2022 World Cups handed to Russia and Qatar. 

On June 13, 2018, 211 member federations and the 38-person FIFA council will decide who’ll win the right to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and all of those votes will be open to public viewing. 

Lionel Messi was awarded nearly $85,000 after Argentinean newspaper La Razón was found guilty of defamation (the communication of a false claim that harms the reputation of, in this case, an individual) against the international star following Argentina’s 2014 World Cup Final defeat to Germany.