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Argentina vs Brazil Prediction: Mac Allister In The Thick Of The Action
Follow our football betting tips as Argentina take on Brazil in a 2026 World Cup qualifier
Argentina vs Brazil betting tips
The current World Cup champions Argentina can become the first South American team to punch their ticket for the 2026 tournament when they face old rivals Brazil on Wednesday (Midnight, Premier Sports 1).
This is a far cry from the European qualifying groups with England up against the likes of Latvia, Albania and Andorra to secure their place.
Argentina currently top the qualifying table with 28 points from their 13 games played, while Brazil sit third, one point and one place behind Ecuador with 21 points.
The top six teams after 18 matches will qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup, while the seventh-placed finishers will face a play-off tie.
Neither team will be worrying about not qualifying for the tournament in North America. but that doesn’t mean this game will lack an edge. In fact, Fifa has previously described this fixture as the "essence of football rivalry".
The two sides last met in November 2023 as part of the World Cup qualifiers and Argentina condemned Brazil to their first-ever World Cup qualification home defeat, following a run of 51 wins and 13 draws.
Nicolas Otamendi scored the only goal of the game at the Maracana, in a game that was delayed due to crowd violence.
A repeat of that scoreline will see Argentina secure qualification with four games to spare, but there’s no Lionel Messi for the world champions and Brazil will be determined to make their arch-nemesis wait a little longer for qualification.
Argentina have won seven of their previous eight home World Cup qualifiers and kept 11 clean sheets from their last 12 home matches. They also go into the game on the back of a narrow 1-0 win over Uruguay, to end a run of three games without a win.
After a shaky start to their qualifying campaign, which saw Brazil win one, draw one and lose four of their first six matches, Dorival Junior’s side go into the game unbeaten in their last five, which includes wins over Chile, Peru and Colombia.
They have only won one of their last five away qualifiers though, drawing one and losing the other three, which is hard to believe when you look at their side.
Both Raphinha and Vinicius Junior were on target in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Colombia, while Rodrygo, Joao Pedro, Gabriel and Bruno Guimaraes also started.
They will be without goalkeeper Alisson though, who has returned to Liverpool after suffering a concussion in the late stages of that game, while Gabriel and Guimaraes miss the trip as they are suspended.
Football betting sites are backing Argentina for the win at 24/19 while you can get 11/4 on a Brazil win and 9/4 on a draw.
We are expecting a close one on Wednesday and a draw - which has been the outcome in the last two World Cup qualifiers between the sides in Argentina - with both teams finding the net looks the best option.
Argentina vs Brazil prediction 1: Draw & BTTS - 4/1 Bet365
Mac Allister to keep up his record
One of my favourite bets and probably most fruitful this season has backing Alexis Mac Allister to commit two or more fouls. It seems to have been a given every week in the Premier League.
With such rivalry between these two sides and so many fellow Premier League stars likely to line up for the opposition, we don’t expect anything to change in this game.
Betting sites are offering 11/4 on a player who averages 2.2 fouls per league game this season committing over 2.5 fouls.
Argentina vs Brazil prediction 2: Mac Allister to concede over 2.5 fouls - 11/4 Bet365
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