Argentina punched their ticket to the 2026 World Cup with flair, delivering a stunning 4-1 demolition of arch-rivals Brazil in Buenos Aires on Wednesday morning (Bangladesh time)

Argentina’s dominance, both in spirit and in skill, now sees them march into the 2026 World Cup with confidence, while Brazil must return to the drawing board to salvage their qualifying campaign.

The result in the match held in the Bolivian city of El Alto guaranteed the 2022 World Cup winners a top-six finish and direct qualification for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Iran booked their place in the 2026 World Cup following a 2-2 home draw against Uzbekistan at Tehran's Azadi Stadium on Tuesday.

Thomas Tuchel has insisted Harry Maguire will "always be in contention" for England despite overlooking the Manchester United defender for his first two games in charge.

Cabrera hails debutant's impact

Australia beat China 2-0 on Tuesday to boost their chances of automatic World Cup qualification, but Saudi Arabia stayed in touch in Group C with a goalless draw in Japan.

Bangladesh had to be satisfied with a draw after fluffing a host of opportunities at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong in their AFC Asian Cup Qualifier against India on Tuesday.

The defender has long been linked with a move to the Bernabeu on a free transfer and talks between the 26-year-old and the Spanish giants are understood to be making progress.

Bangladesh wasted at least four scoring chances as the first half of their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture in Shillong ended goalless. 

Brazil have not beaten the reigning world champions in six years, a run that extends to 16 years for matches hosted in Argentina.

Hamza Choudhury was named in the starting XI for Bangladesh in their AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers fixture against India, with regular captain Jamal Bhuiyan kept on the bench.

The pair, once among the most powerful figures in global soccer, were cleared of fraud at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in the town of Muttenz, near Basel.

Most people these days will not believe me when I tell them that there was once a time when us Bangladeshis had very strong emotions related to football and our footballers. We did not have English hooligans, but each and every locality was somewhat divided between an epic rivalry of Mohammedan versus Abahani.

Barcelona midfielder Pedri said he is putting team trophies ahead of individual accolades this season and would only want to be awarded the Ballon d'Or if his side won the Champions League and completed the treble.

The match kicks off at 7:30 pm (Bangladesh time) at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong, Meghalaya, and will be broadcast live on T Sports.

"We'll beat them up... Absolutely! Beat them up! On the pitch and off the pitch if we have to," Raphinha said in an interview on "Romario TV" with the Brazilian great.

Even though there is a big gulf in ranking as well as performances between Bangladesh and India, the matches involving the two neighbours have over the years produced some thrilling contests.

Monday's 3-0 victory over Latvia at Wembley, like Friday's 2-0 defeat of Albania, was far from perfect. But Tuchel already has credit in the bank for some wise decisions.

Argentina's remarkable home form bolsters their confidence: seven wins in their last eight home qualifiers, including 11 clean sheets in 12. They also hold a four-match unbeaten streak against Brazil, highlighted by a 1-0 win in Rio de Janeiro last year, thanks to Nicolas Otamendi.