How did they get themselves into this mess?

Frightful bad luck? Yes, some might say that. Poor Bolivia should bear some burden of blame. In 2016, Bolivia drew Chile in a nil-nil draw and beat Peru 2:0. Those were two normal games to most folks but a FIFA rule was broken in those games, Bolivia brought on a substitute defender in both games, remember Nelson Cabrera? Yeah, that’s right, Mr Cabrera has lived in Bolivia for three years, this makes him qualify for Bolivian Citizenship, but that’s Bolivia’s problem; because FIFA requires that a player must reside for no less than five years in a foreign country before he/she can be caped. Hence FIFA withdrew Bolivia’s points from both matches and awarded it to Chile and Peru.  Without these points Both Chile and Peru would be below Argentina in the SA table.

Is that their only problem?

Of course not, Argentina has performed poorly so far, or I’ll say below expectations, they possess an unstable defence and Jorge Sampaoli’s attack-style football is not helping because their defence lacks the pace to cope with it. I do hope they find their fit again though, c’mon who wants to watch a world cup without Argentina it?