Lionel Messi and Argentina will look to book a spot to the World Cup finals next summer when they take on Paraguay on Tuesday.
The top four teams in the confederation automatically qualify for the tournament next summer while the fifth place side must endure a playoff with the AFC playoff winner.
Argentina currently sits atop the qualifiers with an impressive record of seven wins, five draws, and one loss; only Colombia has more wins in the qualifiers but no team has less than three defeats in the tournament. Moreover, Argentina has a confederation-leading 25 goals scored and a second-best mark of only nine goals conceded. With a draw on Tuesday, the Albiceleste would have 27 points, while a win would give them 29; fifth place Uruguay can only land a maximum of 28 points if it wins its final three games. A Uruguayan loss or draw against Colombia on Tuesday would also be enough to clinch a spot for Argentina.
Paraguay's situation is far more complicated. The team sits near the bottom of the table with 11 points and can no longer qualify directly; Paraguay can gain a maximum of 20 points, but would be eliminated if Uruguay manages a win over Colombia, or if Paraguay draws or loses in this game.
The last time these teams met Argentina pulled off a 3-1 victory with goals from Gonzalo Higuain, Messi and Angel Di Maria.
Prediction: Paraguay is home, but Argentina is superior and should pull off an easy 3-0 win.
Start Time: 9:40 p.m. EST
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