South American World Cup Qualifiers to air via pay-per-view

 

 

With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar just over a year away, Integrated Sports Media will provide South American qualifying games. The “leader in pay-per-view soccer matches” has coverage of the three postponed qualifiers.

Rounds six, nine and 10, as were originally scheduled by FIFA and CONMEBOL, will be played over an eight-day span.

Among those games is a rematch of the 2021 Copa América Final between Argentina and Brazil.

Integrated Sports Media and their coverage

The group that will be airing the games on pay-per-view will be available to cable and satellite users.

To watch the games, users must pay $29.95 per match. Additionally, there will be 14 games in the eight-day span for CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying. Say, for example, a user wanted to purchase the pay-per-view of each game, that would amount to over $400.

READ MORE: How to watch Qatar 2022 World Cup Qualifiers.

Now, some games happen at concurrent times with other games, so that would not be necessary. Also, the matches continue to be available on cable via iN Demand along with satellite providers DIRECTV and DISH.

Traditionally speaking, Integrated Sports Media provides pay-per-view coverage of boxing or mixed martial arts. However, in recent times, the group has dipped into the soccer market.

In their tenure in the soccer world, they featured teams such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced clubs to not release players internationally to protect them from the virus. With FIFA’s exclusion rules now lifted, CONMEBOL and other FIFA governing bodies must stack games to ensure the qualifiers can be completed.

South American World Cup Qualifiers

While Integrated Sports Media will have coverage of all games from September 2 to September 8, there are a handful of matches to keep a close eye on.

No other game in the 14 scheduled demands as much attention as Brazil hosting Argentina on Sunday, September 5. This match will be the first game between the two nations since Argentina’s recent Copa América triumph over their rivals. Also, this game pits two of the game’s biggest stars, Lionel Messi and Neymar, against each other.

Yes, they played each other over the summer in that final, but this will be the first time since they became teammates at Paris Saint Germain. Messi’s move to the French side brought the soccer world to a halt, a move heavily supported by his friend, Neymar.

The CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers require each team to play a home match and a road match against every other competing team. This means that teams could be playing a dozen matches over the next seven months.

Integrated Sports Media estimates that the biggest battle will not be fought between Argentina and Brazil. Instead, over those next seven months, it will be from the five teams fighting for three qualifying spots. With CONMEBOL, the 10 teams compete for four guaranteed spots at the World Cup. The fifth-placed team enters an intercontinental playoff to get to the World Cup.

For Qatar 2022, expect Brazil and Argentina to reach the tournament with minimal stress. However, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay and Chile will fight for the remaining spots. Each of those five teams sit within three points of each other. There are more than half of the games still remaining, meaning there is plenty of time for one team to go on a brief run to put themselves in solid position.

World Cup Qualifying Schedule

For Integrated Sports Media and their coverage, here are the 14 games to be aired live through pay-per-view (all times listed are in the Eastern United States timezone):

Thursday, September 2

4 p.m.: Bolivia vs. Colombia

5 p.m.: Ecuador vs. Paraguay

8 p.m.: Venezuela vs. Argentina

9 p.m.: Perú vs. Uruguay

Sunday, September 5

3 p.m.: Brazil vs. Argentina

5 p.m.: Ecuador vs. Chile

6 p.m.: Paraguay vs. Colombia

6 p.m.: Uruguay vs. Bolivia

9 p.m.: Perú vs. Venezuela

Thursday, September 9

6:30 p.m.: Uruguay vs. Ecuador

6:30 p.m.: Paraguay vs. Venezuela

7 p.m.: Colombia vs. Chile

7:30 p.m.: Argentina vs. Bolivia

8:30 p.m.: Brazil vs. Perú

The other option to watch these games is via fuboTV, where matches will be available via their fubo Latino streaming package.