2018 North & South American Qualifiers Ups and Downs

As the groups of the World Cup Qualifiers are completed (except for Africa with one match-day left) we will take a look at the ups and downs of each group. Countries in bold will be participating in the 2018 World Cup, while the countries that are underlined, are in the playoffs.

South America

In the South American qualifiers, there are 10 teams in one group. The top four teams in the group automatically qualify to the World Cup. 5th place enters a playoff round against the winner of the Oceanian qualifying tournament. The rest cannot qualify.

1. Brazil 41 points
2. Uruguay 31 points
3. Argentina 28 points
4. Columbia 27 points
5. Peru 26 points
6. Chile 26 points
7. Paraguay 24 points
8. Ecuador 20 points
9. Bolivia 14 points
10. Venezuela 12 points

Ups

• After a disastrous 2014 World Cup for Brazil, they dominated in the 2018 Qualifiers. As they already secured a World Cup spot in March, they scored 41 goals with striker trio Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Philippe Coutinho scoring a combined total of 16 goals.
• Peru were the surprise pack in this very tough South American group by finishing above Chile and Ecuador to reach a playoff spot. Peru now have a chance to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1982. Aalborg midfielder Edison Flores scored five goals, with three goals helping Peru to beat Uruguay, Ecuador and Bolivia 2-1 in back to back matches.
• Although Uruguay hit a few bumpy roads along the way, they finished in 2nd place with a strong midfield and were lethal up front. PSG forward Edinson Cavani scored ten goals, while Luis Suarez scored five goals and got seven assists and scored the winning goal against Bolivia to send Uruguay to Russia next year.
• Lionel Messi was the key player and carried Argentina to the 2018 World Cup. Messi scored seven goals, had an 81% pass accuracy rate, and scored a hat trick against Ecuador in the last match when Argentina could have finished in 6th place.

Downs

• After winning the Copa America the last two times, and reaching the 2017 Confederations Cup finals, Chile failed to qualify to the 2018 World Cup. As Chile lost matches they should have won such as losing to Paraguay 3-0 and 2-1, and to Bolivia 1-0, this cost them a World Cup spot. Chile also struggled at the back, as they conceded 27 goals.
• Venezuela finished rock bottom and had yet another disappointing qualifying campaign as they are the only country in South America that hasn't participated in the World Cup. Venezuela only won two out of 18 matches and had conceded 35 goals.
• Despite Ecuador winning the first four matches of the qualifiers, they went down hill and finished in 8th place. With heartbreaking losses to Peru, Paraguay and drew to Bolivia and Venezuela, Ecuador will want to forget about these qualifiers. 

North America

In the North American qualifiers there are six teams in one group. The top three teams advance to the World Cup. 4th place enters a playoff against the 5th best team in Asia. Teams that are in 5th or 6th place cannot qualify.

1. Mexico 21 points
2. Costa Rica 16 points
3. Panama 13 points
4. Honduras 13 points
5. United States of America 12 points
6. Trinidad and Tobago 6 points

Ups

• Unlike the 2014 Qualifiers where Mexico needed the USA to beat Panama to qualify, they qualified with ease. Mexico had the best back line in the group, and Standard de Liege keeper Guillermo Ochoa had four clean sheets. PSV midfielder Hirving Lozano scored three goals and helped Mexico to win two crucial matches against Panama and Trinidad and Tobago to send Mexico to Russia. 
• Costa Rica qualify to the World Cup for the 5th time in their history. Although Costa Rica hit a few bumps along the way, they had two impressive wins over the US, 4-0 and 2-0 away. Real Madrid keeper Keylor Navas had four clean sheets and was the main reason why Costa Rica conceded only a few goals.
• Panama qualified to the World Cup for the first time in their history. With two crucial draws to Mexico and Costa Rica, Panama were the surprise package in North America and proved to be one of the best teams in the continent. Young New York Red Bull defenders Fidel Escobar and Michael Murillo had a combined total of 84% pass accuracy rate and helped Panama reach the World Cup
• Christian Pulisic was on fire as he scored five goals, had four assists and was involved in almost every goal the US scored. Pulisic was the spark whenever the US were in trouble. 

Downs

• The Stars and Stripes failed to qualify to the World Cup for the first time since 1986. As the US lost their first two matches to Mexico and Costa Rica, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked. The US them hired former LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena in hopes to bring their qualifying campaign back on track. However it backfired, as the US tied Panama and Honduras 1-1, lost to Costa Rica at home 0-2, and them lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago to finish below a playoff spot. 
• Although Honduras were good enough to reach the playoffs, they conceded 19 goals and lost to the United States 6-0 and Mexico 3-0. If they want to beat Australia in the playoffs they will need to improve their back line.