Argentina, Peru 2018 World Cup Qualifier Ends in 0-0 Draw

Argentina's chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia are hanging by a thread after the country's scoreless draw against Peru on Thursday night.The result left Argentina in sixth place in the CONMEBOL table with just one match remaining. While Brazil already clinched its place in Russia, Uruguay (28 points), Chile (26 points), Colombia (26 points) and Peru (25 points) all remain ahead of Argentina (25 points) on the table. The top four teams earn automatic qualification, while the fifth team will faceNew Zealand in a November qualifying playoff.That means Argentina goes into Tuesday's match needing a victory to guarantee advancement. Uruguay will automatically qualify for the tournament with a win or draw over Bolivia, while Chile will automatically advance with a win over Brazil.But as Miguel Delaney of theIndependentnoted, the Argentines still have hope:Indeed, if Argentina wins, any result from Peru and Colombia will be moot. A draw between those sides would push Argentina into at least fourth place, while either team winning would mean Argentina could finish no lower than fifth.Again, that's contingent on Argentina winning. Anything less could mean that Russia's World Cup may be without arguably the top player in the world, Lionel Messi.It wasn't for a lack of trying from the superstar.Argentina dominated possession and had its fair share of opportunities throughout the game. Messi was unsurprisingly active and threatening, both creating several opportunities for teammates and nearly finishing a few of his own. Argentina couldn't take advantage of those chances, however.Two of the team's better opportunities came in the early stages of the second half. Dario Benedetto's shot was expertly saved byPedroGallese. Messi pounced on the careening rebound but his spinning attempt teasingly hit the post and ricocheted away from danger.Messi and Argentina nearly struck again minutes later, as the Barcelona superstar picked outEmilianoRigoni with a beautiful pass into the box. ButGallese was up to the challenge again.It was hard not to feel bad for Messi, who was the team's only dangerous threat on the evening:And it left more than a few people also trying to contemplate a World Cup without a player of Messi's quality:As for Peru, Thursday's draw left it a win away from automatic qualification. While it could feasibly advance to the playoff against New Zealand with either a loss or a draw, it would only do so if both Argentina and Paraguay fail to win on Tuesday.In other words, outside of Brazil, everything remains wide open in South America heading into the final matchday of World Cup qualifying.
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