Argentina are cruising, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay are rising, while the US and Mexico are in crisis There’s a recipe for making the best tournaments. You need the right balance of favorites marching towards the final and underdogs carving their way out of the group stage. A nation furthering a massive unbeaten streak doesn’t hurt, either. The same goes for a host nation crashing out in dramatic fashion. The first 24 games of the Copa América have added just about every ingredient in that great tournament recipe. With the group stage complete and the knockout rounds awaiting us, which tea ..read more

Canadians progress to last-eight in tournament debut Lautaro Martínez scores two for world champions Canada played out a dour goalless Copa América draw with 10-man Chile on Saturday to claim second place in Group A and progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament. The draw meant Canada finished with four points in Group A on their Copa América debut, behind leaders Argentina, who had already qualified for the quarter-finals. Chile finished third in the group, and exited the tournament without a goal to their name, prolonging a scoring drought in which they have netted only three goals i ..read more

Lautaro Martínez scores in 88th minute for champions Canada break down 10-man Peru in sweltering heat Lautaro Martínez scored from a rebound in the 88th minute, giving defending champion Argentina and Lionel Messi a 1-0 victory over Chile on Tuesday night that guaranteed a berth in the Copa América quarter-finals. Messi’s corner led to a shot that was blocked by Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, and Martínez was on hand to score his second goal of the tournament from Argentina’s 21st shot of the match. Players stood and waited for three minutes while the goal, Martínez’s 26th for his country ..read more

Keeper becomes oldest to play in tournament Canada Soccer investigate claim of racist abuse Chile had goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to thank for securing a 0-0 draw against Peru in their Copa América Group A opener on Friday. The teams nullified each other in a bruising first half that was low on quality, with the best chance falling to Chile’s Alexis Sánchez in the 15th minute, but the attacker sent his shot over the bar. Peru came out with intent in the second half and created a number of promising opportunities, but Chile’s Bravo pulled off a string of saves to keep the scores level, including ..read more

Substitute Andrew Redmayne hailed a hero after shootout win Australia beat Peru 5-4 on penalties to reach Qatar 2022 The plan to send on substitute goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne in the event of a penalty shootout in the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier against Peru had been on the table for weeks, but remained such a secret that not even captain Mat Ryan knew about it. Ryan was replaced in between the sticks as time ran out at the end of extra-time in Australia’s must-win intercontinental playoff in Qatar, as coach Graham Arnold made the bold call to hand Redmayne just his third international cap ..read more

Australia 0-0 Peru (5-4 on penalties) Socceroos reach fifth straight World Cup finals Australian football has a new entry in its folklore and in Andrew Redmayne, the Socceroos goalkeeper, a new icon. After 120 minutes could not separate Graham Arnold’s side and Peru, qualification for the World Cup in Qatar came down to one moment in the crucible of a penalty shootout: Redmayne on the goalline and Alex Valera at the spot. All Australia needed was for the Universitario forward’s effort to go anywhere except the back of the net. Redmayne made sure it did not ..read more

Updates from the Socceroos’ crunch match in Qatar Kick-off time at Al Rayyan Stadium is 9pm local/4am AEST Any thoughts? or tweet @emmavkemp The location of this match is interesting because Australia have played a lot of their qualifying games in Qatar and are very used to the conditions. They have been based there for the past two weeks – the longest time they have spent in camp together for the good part of four years. This is not the case for Peru, and assistant coach Nobby Solano has had a crack at Fifa over the decision ..read more

Ricardo ‘The Tiger’ Gareca takes the core of the Peru team that beat Australia 2-0 at Russia 2018 into showdown for Qatar They call Ricardo Gareca, the coach of the Peruvian national team, “The Tiger”. He received the nickname for being a fearless and tireless striker for Argentine teams Boca Juniors, River Plate, Velez Sarsfield and Independiente, and then America de Cali in the Colombia League, where Gareca won two league titles and was runner-up in three Copa Libertadores. Gareca played 20 internationals for Argentina, scoring five goals, including one against Peru, which eliminated them fr ..read more

Shamans in Peru performed a ritual before their national football team's World Cup playoff against Australia. The decider is being played in Qatar's Al Rayyan stadium on 13 June. The shamans, hailing from the mountains, jungle and coast, all gathered to perform the ritual, which they believe will help Peru beat Australia. 'We have had to give reinforcement and strength to continue to get the end result we want,' said shaman Ana María Simeon ..read more

The draw threw up political intrigue, a heavyweight European clash and one group that is particularly hard to call South Africa in 2010 were the only World Cup hosts to fail to make it through the group stage. Assessing the form of hosts, who have not had to play in qualifiers, is never easy but Qatar’s string of heavy defeats by Portugal, Ireland and Serbia last autumn, followed by a draw against Azerbaijan raises concerns. They did, though, win the Asian Cup under their Spanish coach, Félix Sánchez, in 2019 ..read more