CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying 2022: Results and final standings from South America

Simon Borg

CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying 2022: Results and final standings from South America image

The verdicts in South American World Cup Qualifying have all been handed down. The four direct tickets to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were all punched by the penultimate matchday, and the fifth-place playoff team was settled on the final day.

Runaway qualifying leader Brazil (1st, 45 points) was first to mathematically clinch a berth with five matches remaining, and Argentina (2nd, 39 points) followed it a few days later. The two giants have dominated the region once again and there is still a match to be played between the two (rescheduled from Sept. 2021).

Under a new head coach, Uruguay (3rd, 28 points) finished strong and moved into third place, overtaking Ecuador (4th, 26 points) which finished qualifying strong by tying Lionel Messi's Argentina. Both Uruguay and Ecuador clinched on the penultimate matchday.

And it was Peru which ultimately recovered from a tough stretch and captured the fifth-place spot which gives it a berth to the intercontinental playoff match in June against Australia or the United Arab Emirates. 

Peru (5th, 24 points) finished a single point ahead of favorites Colombia (6th, 23 points), which will have four years to think about what could have been. 

MORE: Which teams have qualified for the 2022 World Cup?

CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying Standings

Updated as of Tuesday, March 29 (Note: Goal difference is first tiebreaker)

Team PTS GP W L D GF GA GD
1*-Brazil (X) 45 17 14 0 3 40 5 +35
2*-Argentina (X) 39 17 11 0 6 27 8 +19
3*-Uruguay (X) 28 18 8 6 4 22 22 0
4*-Ecuador (X) 26 18 7 6 5 27 19 +8
5*-Peru 24 18 7 8 3 19 22 -3
6-Colombia 23 18 5 5 8 20 19 +1
7-Chile 19 18 5 9 4 19 26 -7
8-Paraguay (E) 16 18 3 8 7 12 26 -14
9-Bolivia (E) 15 18 4 11 3 23 43 -20
10-Venezuela (E) 10 18 3 14 1 14 34 -20

PTS=Points, GP=Games Played, W=Wins, L=Losses, D=Draws, GF=Goals For, GA=Goals Allowed, GD=Goal Difference

* The top four teams earn direct berths to the 2022 World Cup. Fifth place earns a spot in a World Cup playoff.

(X = clinched World Cup berth; Y = World Cup playoff; E = Eliminated)

Upcoming CONMEBOL qualifiers schedule

Matchday 18 of 18

Date Home Away Score
Tue, March 29 Bolivia Brazil 0-4
Tue, March 29 Chile Uruguay 0-2
Tue, March 29 Ecuador Argentina 1-1
Tue, March 29 Peru Paraguay 2-0
Tue, March 29 Venezuela Colombia 0-1

CONMEBOL 2022 Qualifying Results

Matchday 1 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Oct. 8, 2020 Paraguay Peru 2-2 Highlights
Oct. 8, 2020 Uruguay Chile 2-1 Highlights
Oct. 8, 2020 Argentina Ecuador 1-0 Highlights
Oct. 9, 2020 Colombia Venezuela 3-0 Highlights
Oct. 9, 2020 Brazil Bolivia 5-0 Highlights

Matchday 2 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Oct. 13, 2020 Bolivia Argentina 1-2 Highlights
Oct. 13, 2020 Ecuador Uruguay 4-2 Highlights
Oct. 13, 2020 Venezuela Paraguay 0-1 Highlights
Oct. 13, 2020 Peru Brazil 2-4 Highlights
Oct. 13, 2020 Chile Colombia 2-2 Highlights

Matchday 3 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Nov. 12, 2020 Bolivia Ecuador 2-3 Highlights
Nov. 12, 2020 Argentina Paraguay 1-1 Highlights
Nov. 13, 2020 Colombia Uruguay 0-3 Highlights
Nov. 13, 2020 Chile Peru 2-0 Highlights
Nov. 13, 2020 Brazil Venezuela 1-0 Highlights

Matchday 4 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Nov. 17, 2020 Ecuador Colombia 6-1 Highlights
Nov. 17, 2020 Venezuela Chile 2-1 Highlights
Nov. 17, 2020 Paraguay Bolivia 2-2 Highlights
Nov. 17, 2020 Uruguay Brazil 0-2 Highlights
Nov. 17, 2020 Peru Argentina 0-2 Highlights

Matchday 5 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
June 3, 2021 Bolivia Venezuela 3-1 Highlights
June 3, 2021 Uruguay Paraguay 0-0 Highlights
June 3, 2021 Argentina Chile 1-1 Highlights
June 3, 2021 Peru Colombia 0-3 Highlights
June 4, 2021 Brazil Ecuador 2-0 Highlights

Matchday 6 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
June 8, 2021 Ecuador Peru 1-2 Highlights
June 8, 2021 Venezuela Uruguay 0-0 Highlights
June 8, 2021 Colombia Argentina 2-2 Highlights
June 8, 2021 Paraguay Brazil 0-2 Highlights
June 8, 2021 Chile Bolivia 1-1 Highlights

Matchday 7 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Sept. 2 Bolivia Colombia 1-1 Highlights
Sept. 2 Ecuador Paraguay 2-0 Highlights
Sept. 2 Venezuela Argentina 1-3 Highlights
Sept. 2 Peru Uruguay 1-1 Highlights
Sept. 2 Chile Brazil 0-1 Highlights

Matchday 8 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Sept. 5 Brazil Argentina Susp. Highlights
Sept. 5 Ecuador Chile 0-0 Highlights
Sept. 5 Paraguay Colombia 1-1 Highlights
Sept. 5 Uruguay Bolivia 4-2 Highlights
Sept. 5 Peru Venezuela 1-0 Highlights

Matchday 9 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Sept. 9 Paraguay Venezuela 2-1 Highlights
Sept. 9 Uruguay Ecuador 1-0 Highlights
Sept. 9 Colombia Chile 3-1 Highlights
Sept. 9 Argentina Bolivia 3-0 Highlights
Sept. 9 Brazil Peru 2-0 Highlights

Matchday 10 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Oct. 7 Uruguay Colombia 0-0 Highlights
Oct. 7 Paraguay Argentina 0-0 Highlights
Oct. 7 Venezuela Brazil 1-3 Highlights
Oct. 7 Ecuador Bolivia 3-0 Highlights
Oct. 7 Peru Chile 2-0 Highlights

Matchday 11 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Oct. 10 Bolivia Peru 1-0 Highlights
Oct. 10 Venezuela Ecuador 2-1 Highlights
Oct. 10 Colombia Brazil 0-0 Highlights
Oct. 10 Argentina Uruguay 3-0 Highlights
Oct. 10 Chile Paraguay 2-0 Highlights

Matchday 12 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Oct. 14 Bolivia Paraguay 4-0 Highlights
Oct. 14 Colombia Ecuador 0-0 Highlights
Oct. 14 Argentina Peru 1-0 Highlights
Oct. 14 Chile Venezuela 3-0 Highlights
Oct. 14 Brazil Uruguay 4-1 Highlights

Matchday 13 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Nov. 11 Ecuador Venezuela 1-0 Highlights
Nov. 11 Paraguay Chile 0-1 Highlights
Nov. 11 Brazil Colombia 1-0 Highlights
Nov. 11 Peru Bolivia 3-0 Highlights
Nov. 12 Uruguay Argentina 0-1 Highlights

Matchday 14 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Nov. 16 Bolivia Uruguay 3-0 Highlights
Nov. 16 Venezuela Peru 1-2 Highlights
Nov. 16 Colombia Paraguay 0-0 Highlights
Nov. 16 Argentina Brazil 0-0 Highlights
Nov. 16 Chile Ecuador 0-2 Highlights

Matchday 15 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Jan. 27 Ecuador Brazil 1-1 Highlights
Jan. 27 Paraguay Uruguay 0-1 Highlights
Jan. 27 Chile Argentina 1-2 Highlights
Jan. 28 Colombia Peru 0-1 Highlights
Jan. 28 Venezuela Bolivia 4-1 Highlights

Matchday 16 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Feb. 1 Bolivia Chile 2-3 Highlights
Feb. 1 Uruguay Venezuela 4-1 Highlights
Feb. 1 Argentina Colombia 1-0 Highlights
Feb. 1 Brazil Paraguay 4-0 Highlights
Feb. 1 Peru Ecuador 1-1 Highlights

Matchday 17 of 18

Date Home Away Score  
Thu, March 24 Brazil Chile 4-0 Highlights
Thu, March 24 Colombia Bolivia 3-0 Highlights
Thu, March 24 Paraguay Ecuador 3-1 Highlights
Thu, March 24 Uruguay Peru 1-0 Highlights
Fri, March 25 Argentina Venezuela 3-0 Highlights

How CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying works

It's not complicated in South America.

All 10 nations play in a round-robin format with each country playing the other nine teams at home and away (total of 18 matches). It's three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for every loss. 

After 18 matches, the top four teams in the standings qualify directly to Qatar 2022, while the fifth-place team will advance to an intercontinental playoff with a ticket to Qatar on the line. For teams tied on points, the first tiebreaker is overall goal difference.

Simon Borg

Simon Borg Photo

Simon Borg is a senior editor at The Sporting News who has covered football/soccer for over a decade. A supporter of Italian club Parma Calcio from his years growing up in Europe, he was previously a long-time member of Major League Soccer's digital media team, as a multimedia content producer, on-air personality, and Editor-in-Chief. Based in New York City, Borg is multilingual and has covered the domestic and global scene for TSN since 2021.