No surprises yet. Those we expected to qualify actually scaled through. The only thing shocking is Argentina not finishing her group as top place. Nevertheless, they are still in the competition with a less tougher opponent. Tomorrow, Brazil and Paraguay will be opening the play off matches. It's just three matches left to the final stage, who are you counting on winning? Before then, let's see how they got there.
The host country, Brazil finished as top place in group A with 7 points. They were able to defeat Bolivia and Peru with large goal margins, but Venezuela fought with them quite hard; none of them could get a goal which led to a draw. Venezuela also got 3 points from Bolivia and a point from Peru, giving them 5 points behind Brazil.
Argentina still managed to qualify as second place after getting one point in two matches. Their 2 - 0 win against Qatar gave them the opportunity to still contend. Columbia, however, were superb in this group. In fact, they are the only team to win all matches so far. They kept clean sheets in those matches, too. All eyes are on them now.
Uruguay is another team to watch out for in the competition. They defeated the defending champions and finished top of the group. Chile performed brilliantly too, but it wasn't enough for them to be in the top place. The Uruguayan team was just amazing. It's still the toughest group, though.
Two teams were added to the six teams that qualified automatically, because the play off stage needed eight teams. So, those at third spots were considered. Peru finished with 4 points; Paraguay finished with 2 points, and Japan finished with 2 points, too. Paraguay had lesser number of goals conceded, so they qualified alongside Peru. The play off standings is out already, and it promises to be superb. This is the stage where all teams are at alert.
The final match is almost here but before then, let's enjoy these fixtures.
