2026 WCQ: Brazil Suffer Third Straight Loss After 1-0 Home Defeat To Argentina

World champions Argentina recorded an historic 1-0 win against rivals Brazil in a tense 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier inside the Maracana stadium on Tuesday night.

It is the first time ever that Brazil will lose a home game in the World Cup qualifiers.

Former Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi scored the only goal of the game on 63 minutes after jumping to head home a corner.

With nine minutes left Newcastle United star Joelinton was shown a straight red card.

It is now third straight defeat for Brazil who had lost to Uruguay and Colombia going into the game against Argentina.

Argentina leads South American World Cup qualifying with 15 points from six games while Brazil is in sixth position.

However, there was troubles on the stands as Lionel Messi led his Argentina lineup off the field because of a brawl between rival fans in Brazil.

This led to a delay before the start of the game by 27 minutes at the Maracana Stadium.
Police used batons to break up the fights in the crowd, which started minutes after the national anthems.

Parts of seating and other objects were thrown from both sides and hit some spectators behind one of the goals, and at least one fan left the stadium bleeding from his head.