Uruguay and Argentina will partake in a crucial CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier on Thursday when they meet at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo.
The top four teams will qualify automatically for the 2018 World Cup, with the fifth qualifying to an intercontinental playoff against the champion of the Oceania region.
Uruguay enter Thursday clash in third place in the CONMEBOL table with Argentina are currently sitting fifth. Colombia, Chile and Ecuador are also fighting to qualify, leaving those five teams separated by four points.
The only South American team to qualify thus far is Brazil, who did so with a victory over Paraguay in March and lead the table with 33 points.
No countries have played more games against each other than Uruguay and Argentina, who will be meeting for the 193rd time. Argentina, who have won 89 of those games, also have the edge in World Cup qualifiers, winning six of the sides’ 11 meetings in the competition.
Messi has scored 18 times in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, leaving him one behind former Argentina striker Hernan Crespo and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez — who is not expected to play on Thursday because of a knee injury — for the most goals scored in the history of the competition.
Messi was not originally expected to play against Uruguay after receiving a four-game ban in March for verbally abusing an official in a win against Chile, but that ban was overturned on appeal in May after he sat out Argentina’s qualifier — a 2-0 defeat to Bolivia.
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