South American qualifiers: Messi shines in his farewell at home while Paraguay, Colombia and Uruguay seal their World Cup spots

On a special night for Argentine star Lionel Messi, Argentina comfortably defeated Venezuela and "fired" with honors its captain and iconic  "10," who scored twice and gave a soccer exhibition in Buenos Aires, in what was his last World Cup qualifying match. In the rest of the matches played in parallel, Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia also sealed their tickets to the 2026 World Cup, jointly organized by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Messi's display in front of a 'gray' Vinotinto

In front of his home crowd and sharing the stage with several young talents aiming to take his scepter -Thiago Almada, Franco Mastantuono and Nico Paz-, Leo Messi once again shone in a World Cup qualifying match against Venezuela, which put up little resistance.

With his two goals, in the 40th and 80th minutes respectively, the Albiceleste "10" climbed to the top of the scoring charts in the current qualifiers. With tonight's goals, Messi reached 36 goals in World Cup qualifiers in 72 matches, for an average of half a goal per game. With those goals, the Argentine star will retire as the all-time top scorer in South American qualifiers, seven ahead of his friend and teammate, Uruguay's Luis Suarez.

Messi himself confirmed that he played his last game for Argentina in the qualifiers, as he announced that he will not play against Ecuador on the last matchday. The decision leaves open the future of the Albiceleste captain, who has not yet confirmed his presence in the next World Cup.

Of course, Messi took the spotlight in his historic farewell, but once again, Scaloni's Argentina gave a great soccer exhibition at the Monumental Stadium, this time confirming the great emergence of Thiago Almada, the present and future of Argentina, and showing that they are still one of the most solid and best-playing teams on the planet.

Venezuela, on the other hand, tried to put up a fight and succeeded relatively well until Messi's 1-0. An unfortunate play by Savarino, who slipped and lost possession in midfield, left Argentina on the back foot in transition. Paredes, who had a great game, put in an exquisite three-finger long ball for Julián Álvarez, who left Messi alone in the heart of the area. Messi was in charge of defining the action with a subtle dive in front of Romo and the Venezuelan defenders.

In the second half, Venezuela's desperation was matched by Argentina's ease. Scaloni's changes, moreover, suited his team well, with Nico González and Lautaro Martínez making it 2-0. Messi and Almada then sealed the deal.

Now, Venezuela, which still holds the seventh place that guarantees a spot in the playoffs, will have to fight at home against Colombia to try to retain that precious position and have one more chance to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in its history. It is competing for that place with Bolivia, which also lost by 0-3 and now has to host an already qualified Brazil in the city of El Alto, the highest city in the qualifiers. If Venezuela wins, it secures seventh place. Bolivia, on the other hand, must win to dream of the World Cup.

Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia to the World Cup

Almost all the rest of the day, except Brazil 3-0 Chile, was played in parallel to Argentina-Venezuela and ended with Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia sealing their World Cup passes.

The big news, undoubtedly, came from Paraguay, which secured its place in the World Cup after a goalless draw with Ecuador at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción.

With this result, the Albirroja team ensured qualification for the World Cup after fifteen long years of waiting, following several failed qualifying attempts. Their last World Cup was in 2010, in South Africa, when they reached the quarterfinals and pushed Spain to the limit, beating the Guaraníes 1-0 in a heart-stopping match. Ultimately, that Spanish team ended up winning its first World Cup.

After securing the qualification, the Paraguayan government announced a national holiday and the streets of Asuncion were filled with joy and happiness after completing the World Cup dream under the guidance of Gustavo Alfaro, the Argentinean coach who changed the face of the Albirrojo national team, which defeated Argentina and Brazil at home and obtained other great results against Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Chile after he arrived in Guaraní.

The rest of the day, Uruguay beat an already eliminated Peru and Colombia, also at home, defeated a sluggish and uncompetitive Bolivia by the same scoreline, which once again suffered a heavy result away from home.