Two-time defending Copa América champions Chile did not qualify for 2018 FIFA World Cup after a 3–0 loss to Brazil on the final day of qualifying campaign, resulting in a sixth-place finish. As a result, following intercontinental play-offs against the record five-time OFC Nations Cup champions New Zealand, Peru qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1982.
Format
The qualification structure was the same as for the previous five tournaments. The ten teams played in a league of home-and-away round-robin matches. The top four teams qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the fifth-placed team advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.
Unlike previous qualifying tournaments where the fixtures were pre-determined, the fixtures were determined by draw, which was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg, Russia.[2]
For scheduling reasons, Argentina and Brazil were automatically positioned as Teams 4 and 5 respectively to ensure that no team has to play both of them on any double matchday.[3][4] The remaining eight teams were drawn into one of the remaining eight positions from Teams 1 to 10 (except 4 and 5).
Entrants
All ten national teams from CONMEBOL entered qualification.[5]
The draw for the inter-confederation play-offs was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw on 25 July 2015, starting 18:00 MSK (UTC+3), at the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna, Saint Petersburg.[3] The fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL was drawn against the first-placed team from OFC, with the CONMEBOL team hosting the second leg.[16]
^The match between Argentina and Brazil was originally scheduled to be played on 12 November 2015, 21:00 UTC−3, but was postponed to the following day due to bad weather.[10]
^FIFA awarded Peru a 3–0 win as a result of Bolivia fielding the ineligible player Nelson Cabrera, after Bolivia had defeated Peru 2–0. Nelson Cabrera had previously represented Paraguay and did not meet eligibility rules.[11]
^FIFA awarded Chile a 3–0 win as a result of Bolivia fielding the ineligible player Nelson Cabrera, after the match had finished 0–0. Nelson Cabrera had previously represented Paraguay and did not meet eligibility rules.[11]
^ abcdChile were sanctioned by FIFA to play one home match (against Bolivia on 6 September 2016) away from Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago due to homophobic chants by the team's fans, with a possible ban on a second match subject to a probation period of two years.[12] Since Chile committed another infringement during this period, a second match ban on playing at Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos will be served (against Venezuela on 28 March 2017).[13] Chile was sanctioned with a ban on playing at Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos for two further matches (against Paraguay on 31 August 2017 and against Ecuador on 5 October 2017) after similar incidents.[14]
^The match between Peru and Bolivia was originally scheduled to be played at the Estadio Nacional, but was moved to the Estadio Monumental "U" due to poor conditions of the pitch at the Estadio Nacional.[15]
