Uruguay, Colombia And Chile All Remain In Contenti

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Australia’s opponent for the FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off in November will go down to the final round of matches on Wednesday (Thursday Australian time) after this morning’s penultimate round of South American qualifiers.

Australia-s opponent for the FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off in November will go down to the final round of matches on Wednesday (Thursday Australian time) after this morning-s penultimate round of South American qualifiers.

Chile stayed in the hunt for fifth place coming from behind to draw 1-1 in Barranquilla in Colombia, while Uruguay-s draw away to Ecuador meant that any of Chile, Colombia or Uruguay could yet be the team that stands in the path of Australia-s first appearance FIFA World Cup appearance since 1974. It is however Australia-s nemesis from 2001, Uruguay, that currently sits in the crucial fifth position.

Ecuador-s draw and Paraguay-s 1-0 away win to Venezuela ensured their respective automatic qualification as third and fourth ranked teams on the ten-team table behind Brazil and Argentina. Venezuela-s failure to win denied them a chance to stay in the hunt for fifth and the team Australia drew with in February of last year are now eliminated.

Tomorrow-s matches see Argentina take on Peru and Bolivia host Brazil in matches that have no bearing on qualification.

The real action will take place on Wednesday (10.30am, Thursday Australian time) with all three nations battling for fifth place taking on nations either already qualified or out of contention; Uruguay v Argentina in Montevideo, Chile v Ecuador in Santiago and Paraguay v Colombia in Asuncion.

The table sees Uruguay on 22 points (goal difference -6), Colombia on 21 (+7), Chile also on 21 (-4). Head to-head results will decide the fifth place qualifier prior to goal difference being considered.

The team that finishes fifth will host Australia on Saturday 12 November (Sunday 13 November Australian time) before the second leg at Sydney-s Telstra Stadium on Wednesday 16 November.