FIFA World Cup South America Qualifiers Standings & Schedule: Ecuador & Chile Unbeaten, Colombia Hanging On

By Damon Salvadore First Posted: Nov 13, 2015 02:33 PM EST

An exciting match day three leaves only one perfect team remaining. Ecuador is an unblemished 3-0 with nine points after three games, and they are in first place.

Ecuador defeated Argentina in their first game 2-0 with goals from Felipe Caicedo and Frickson Erazo. It certainly help not having to face Lionel Messi, who is out with an injury, but it's still very impressive to go into Argentina and get a 2-0 win. Gustavo Quinteros' squad later defeated Bolivia 2-0 at home. In Ecuador's last game they beat Uruguay to improve to 3-0.

They may be the sixth highest ranked team in CONMEBOL, but Ecuador has come to play. They want that 2018 FIFA World Cup big badly. Ecuador plays Venezuela in their next match.

The biggest game of match day three was the one that has yet to take place. The Brazil and Argentina game had to be postponed because of heavy rain. Argentina is in a must win situation here. They have yet to win a game, they haven't even scored a goal, and they have a lot of injuries. After a loss to Ecuador and a draw to Paraguay, Argentina only has one point. Carlos Tevez is out with an injury, and Brazil smells blood. Neymar has been playing incredible lately. Brazil defeated Venezuela in their last game.

One could argue that Colombia were the big winners on Thursday. Not many soccer experts thought James Rodriguez and Colombia had a chance at the Copa America champions, Chile, but Colombia stole a point on the road. As expected, Chile led 1-0 in the second half, but Rodriguez found the net in the 67th minute, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. That was huge by Colombia to go into Chile and get a point. Colombia has a negative one goal differential, and that's critical because it's part of the tie breaker process.

Right now Colombia is in the No. 5 spot, so they need Argentina to beat Brazil on Friday. If Brazil wins, Colombia drops to the No. 6 seed. The top four teams automatically make the 2018 World Cup, and two other teams will make it from the inter-confederation playoffs.

Uruguay has been playing very well considering they don't even have their best player in Luis Suarez. Suarez is still serving his international ban for the biting incident that took place last year at the World Cup. Fortunately for Uruguayan soccer fans, he only has one game left on that suspension. Uruguay has two wins and one loss without their superstar forward, good enough for third place. Uruguay has a tough game against Chile next, but Suarez will return against Brazil for match day five. What a game that should be.