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The FIFA World Cup qualifiers in South America (CONMEBOL zone) follow a true round-robin format, unlike any other continent/zone.
The ten participating nations play each other exactly twice, home and away, with the top four teams sealing automatic berths in the quadrennial competition. Interestingly, all but one team - Venezuela - has never graced the World Cup finals.
La Vinotinto have endured another miserable qualification campaign. Currently occupying last place in the standings, they are already out of contention with only two games remaining. At the other end of the table, continental heavyweights Brazil and Argentina, have already qualified for Qatar' 22 with many games to spare.
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Over the years, many prolific goalscorers have graced the CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The trend has continued this year too. On that note, here's a look at the five most prolific South American goalscorers in FIFA World Cup qualifying:
#5 Hernan Crespo (Argentina) - 19 goals
Hernan Crespo was a goal machine for club and country. The striker scored nearly 250 goals in his club career, most of them in Italy, and also had success with his national team.
Crespo scored 35 goals for Argentina, with more than half of them (19) coming in FIFA World Cup qualifiers across three qualification campaigns. The 46-year-old also netted four times in the quadrennial competition - once in 2002 and thrice in 2006.
Despite winning league titles in three different countries, Crespo's only silverware with Argentina was at the 1995 Pan American Games.
#4 Alexis Sanchez (Chile) - 19 goals
Alexis Sanchez has had a career that promised much but has delivered so little. Despite his prowess in the attacking third, the 33-year-old has had a pretty underwhelming return of less than one goal every three games (176 in 602) in his club career.
His goal return with Chile isn't much better as well. However, with 48 goals in 146 games, the Inter Milan attacker is the team's all-time top scorer. Impressively, 19 of these strikes have come in FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Two of those goals - Sanchez's first in almost six years for Chile - came in the team's 3-2 win over Bolivia in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.
Sanchez has scored only twice in the World Cup finals, though.
#3 Marcelo Martins Moreno (Bolivia) - 22 goals
Marcelo Moreno has scored a lot of goals in CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifiers. However, he is not much of a well-known name outside his native country, as his only spells in Europe's top-five leagues came with Werder Bremen and Wigan Athletic.
Nevertheless, the 34-year-old has been a star performer for Bolivia - with 22 of his 30 goals coming in World Cup qualifiers. Ten of those goals have come in the ongoing 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Moreno is three ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Lautaro Martinez in the scoring charts.
Despite Moreno's exploits, Bolivia are unlikely to make the trip to Qatar. With just two games to go, La Verde trail fifth-placed Peru by six points and a massive goal difference to make up.
#2 Lionel Messi (Argentina) - 27 goals
Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the best players to have graced the game.
The PSG attacker is set for a fifth appearance at the World Cup after starring with seven goals in the Albiceleste's successful 2022 qualification campaign. He had netted 20 in four previous qualification campaigns; Messi did not score in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, but has netted in each of his next four campaigns.
With 80 goals, Messi is Argentina's all-time top scorer. However, only six of those strikes have come in the World Cup finals. That's something he would like to improve on as the 34-year-old seeks to end La Albiceleste's 36-year wait for the big title.
#1 Luis Suarez (Uruguay) - 28 goals
Luis Suarez is one of the most prolific strikers in the game at the moment. Although age seems to be catching up with the 35-year-old Atletico Madrid attacker, Suarez remains a force to be reckoned with, especially in international football.
With 68 goals, he is Uruguay's all-time top scorer. That includes seven strikes in La Celeste's ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification campaign. With his latest strike against Venezuela, a game Uruguay won 4-1, Suarez broke a tie with his good friend Messi to become the most prolific scorer in CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Currently fourth in the standings, the two-time World Cup winners are on course to appearing in Qatar this year.
