Long wait until next South American World Cup qualifiers 31 August (September 1 NZT)
So tight for the three remaining automatic qualifying spots (Brazil already through) and the fifth-place play-off'
Current contenders for 5th place play-off spot:
Colombia: 24 pts
Uruguay: 23
Chile: 23
Argentina: 22 (Fifth place)
Ecuador: 20
Peru: 18
Paraguay: 18
Argentina have won only one of seven games without Messi in this qualifying campaign.
Have won five out of six with him.
Ecuador seem in freefall, having won only two of their last ten qualifiers after a great start in the early rounds
Chile just seem to have been improving in their last two games.
With Messi banned from competitive internationals until the last game of qualifying, it seems more likely that he will play in Argentina's friendly against Brazil at the MCG in Melbourne on June 9 and the match against Singapore on June 13. .