There's no bigger war of attrition in World Cup qualifying than that in South America. CONMEBOL's qualifying gauntlet is regularly the most fierce and intense in the world, with the four automatic berths currently allotted to the confederation–and the one place in an intercontinental playoff for a potential fifth–truly earned by those who secure them.
That war of attrition, which features all 10 of the region's teams facing each other home and away in a single-table format, has its greatest wrinkle yet: a global pandemic. Whereas the Asian Confederation, CONCACAF, Oceania, African confederation and UEFA won't begin their final rounds of World Cup qualifying until next year as a result of pandemic-induced delays, South America is forging right ahead, beginning with Thursday and Friday night's opening matchday.