Otamendi and Richard Ríos, pillars of their national teams

In the early hours of Friday, September 5, Otamendi and Richard Ríos, players for Benfica's professional football team, played the full 90 minutes in Argentina and Colombia's victorious matches, respectively, in the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Having already qualified for the World Cup and secured first place in the CONMEBOL qualifying round, Argentina hosted and easily defeated Venezuela 3-0 at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires.

In this match on the 17th day of the group stage, Otamendi played for the full 90 minutes, leading the world champions' defense.

According to data from the Sofascore platform, the Benfica captain and center back made 116 actions with the ball, showed extraordinary passing accuracy with 98% effectiveness (100/102), and won all five of his duels, four of them in the air.

On the same matchday, but at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia, Richard Ríos played the full 90 minutes of the match against Bolivia (3-0), helping the Cafeteros secure their place at the World Cup.

The midfielder once again showed his influence, with 47 actions with the ball, 83% pass accuracy (25/30), and participating in 12 duels, winning 6.