Peru claimed its first victory in the South American World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay on Friday. Miguel Araujo’s header in the 88th minute broke Peru’s long winless streak and moved the team off the bottom of the standings in the 10-team round-robin competition.
Uruguay, currently in third place with 15 points after nine matches, missed several key opportunities in the first half, with Federico Valverde, Darwin Núñez, and Maximiliano Araújo all denied by Peru’s goalkeeper, Pedro Gallese. The home side took control in the second half, culminating in Araujo’s late goal. Peru now sits with six points, just above last-place Chile, while Uruguay trails behind Argentina and Colombia at the top of the standings.
Following the match, Bielsa expressed disappointment in his team’s inability to create more goal-scoring chances, especially given the talent in the midfield and attack. Uruguay will look to bounce back when they host Ecuador on Tuesday, while Peru faces a tough challenge against fourth-place Brazil on the same day.
