CONMEBOL World Cup 2018 Qualifying Results: Thursday Scores and Group Tables
Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRT
Featured ColumnistNovember 12, 2015
South American qualifying for the 2018 World Cup continued on Thursday, with five games on tap for soccer enthusiasts to dig into. Below, we'll break down the updated scores, table and results from the day's action.
Thursday Scores
| Thursday CONMEBOL Scores | ||||
| Time (ET) | Home | Score | Away | Watch |
| 3 p.m. | Bolivia | 4-2 | Venezuela | BeIN Sports USA |
| 4 p.m. | Ecuador | 2-1 | Uruguay | BeIN Sports USA |
| 6:30 p.m. | Chile | 1-1 | Colombia | BeIN Sports USA |
| 7 p.m. | Argentina | Postponed (Rain) | Brazil | BeIN Sports USA |
| Source: ESPN FC | ||||
Table
| CONMEBOL Table | |||||||||
| Place | Country | G | W | D | L | F | A | GD | P |
| 1 | Ecuador | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 2 | Chile | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 3 | Uruguay | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | Paraguay | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Colombia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 4 |
| 6 | Brazil | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Bolivia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |
| 8 | Argentina | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
| 9 | Peru | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 0 |
| 10 | Venezuela | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 0 |
| Source: ESPN FC | |||||||||
Bolivia Beats Venezuela, 4-2
Bolivia earned its first win of World Cup qualifying, jumping out to a two-goal lead and eventually knocking off Venezuela, 4-2.
Rodrigo Ramallo (two goals), Juan Arce and Rudy Cardozo Fernandez all scored for Bolivia, who were pretty dominant in this one, holding the advantage in shots (23-8), shots on goal (9-5), corners (6-2) and possession (a whopping 72 percent), per ESPN FC.
Bolivia struck first on Ramallo's goal in the 19th minute, via beIN Sports:
Arce would follow that up with a penalty in the 23rd minute, and Bolivia were off to the races, though Mario Rondon got one back for Venezuela in the 31st minute after a lucky deflection freed him in front of the goal:
But Bolivia wasn't going to be stopped. Ramallo struck right before the half, earning the brace in the first minute of stoppage time with this fantastic header:
Fernandez's goal in the 48th minute put this one out of reach, though Richard Blanco helped Venezuela's goal differential slightly going forward with this tidy work in the box in the 55th minute:
Bolivia will next face Paraguay on Tuesday, while Venezuela will take on Ecuador.
Ecuador Beats Uruguay, 2-1
Uruguay couldn't remain atop the table, dropping to Ecuador, 2-1, on Thursday. The win pushed the Ecuadorians to the top of CONMEBOL qualifying with their third win in as many matches.
Felipe Caicedo opened the scoring for Ecuador in the 23rd minute, finishing off this lovely bit of team play by the home side:
That would hold until the second half, when Edinson Cavani pulled things even in the 49th minute with a fantastic header off a free kick:
Cavani continues to be a force for Uruguay, per OptaJavier:
It was his first goal for the country since the 2014 World Cup, however. It certainly came at a crucial time.
Ten minutes later Ecuador would go up for good, however, as Fidel Martínez slotted home after Fernando Muslera's save was deflected wide:
Ecuador were stronger throughout, holding 61 percent of possession and ripping 20 shots to just nine for Uruguay, per ESPN FC. The visitors were also without their top player, Luis Suarez, who is suspended from international action until 2016 and will also miss the team's next game against Chile next Tuesday.
Ecuador will take on Venezuela on Tuesday.
Chile Ties Colombia 1-1
Chile entered Thursday's qualifier against Colombia on a seven-game winning streak dating back to a June 19 win over Bolivia, but it saw that prosperous run come to an end after Colombia's James Rodriguez knotted the score at one and secured his side a point in the 68th minute.
Arturo Vidal gave Chile a 1-0 lead shortly before halftime, and for some time it appeared as though that would be enough to squeak past the Colombians. However, Colombia's ability to respond despite controlling just one-third of the game's possession proved to be a silver lining as it attempts to find a rhythm in CONMEBOL play.
Colombia's lone qualifying win to date came over Peru, and a blowout loss to Uruguay has the Colombians hovering outside the table's top-four.
And even though Chile had its seven-game winning streak snapped, it still hasn't tasted defeat since before Copa America play.
The reigning Copa America champions will be back in action Nov. 17 against Uruguay, while Colombia is set to square off against Argentina the same day.
