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Por César López, CNN en Español

La fecha FIFA de finales de marzo tendrá un ingrediente adicional de cara al Mundial 2026. Allí se definirán los seis últimos cupos en los partidos de repechaje, dejando el panorama completo de los grupos en la cita de Canadá, Estados Unidos y México.

Bolivia buscará ser el séptimo representante de la Conmebol en sumarse a la Copa del Mundo, y para ello el director técnico Óscar Villegas ya presentó la lista de convocados para el primer encuentro, previsto para el 26 de marzo frente a Suriname, en el estadio mundialista de Monterrey.

El ganador de este partido deberá medirse a Iraq en la misma sede, y quien salga vencedor se clasificará al Grupo I, junto a Francia, Senegal y Noruega.

En la lista de 28 convocados, Villegas sorprendió con la inclusión del paraguayo naturalizado boliviano Juan Godoy y la ausencia del goleador Marcelo Moreno Martins, por quien muchos aclaman para regresar al seleccionado boliviano de cara al Mundial. Martins se había retirado, pero recientemente había anunciado su regreso a Oriente Petrolero, del fútbol de Bolivia, con la ilusión de ser convocado para el repechaje.

Arqueros: Carlos Lampe (Bolívar de Bolivia), Guillermo Viscarra (Alianza Lima de Perú), Gerónimo Govea (Wanderers de Uruguay).

Defensores: Diego Medina (CSKA 1948 de Bulgaria), Yomar Rocha (Akron Tolyatti de Rusia), Lucas Macazaga (Leganés de España), Roberto Fernández (Akron Tolyatti de Rusia), Dieguito Rodríguez (Always Ready de Bolivia), Luis Haquín (Al-Tai de Arabia Saudita), Richet Gómez (Always Ready de Bolivia), Marcelo Torrez (Santos de Brasil), Efraín Morales (CF Montréal de la MLS), Diego Arroyo (Shakhtar Donetsk de Ucrania), Leonardo Zabala (Cancún FC de México).

Mediocampistas: Ervin Vaca (Bolívar de Bolivia), Héctor Cuéllar (Always Ready de Bolivia), Robson Matheus (Bolívar de Bolivia), Moisés Villarroel (Blooming de Bolivia), Gabriel Villamil (Liga de Quito de Ecuador), Ramiro Vaca (Wydad Casablanca de Marruecos), Carlos Melgar (Bolívar de Boli).

Delanteros: Víctor Abrego (The Strongest de Bolivia), Miguel Terceros (Santos de Brasil), Jesús Maraude (Always Ready de Bolivia), Fernando Nava (Always Ready de Bolivia), Moisés Paniagua (Wydad Casablanca de Marruecos), Enzo Monteiro (FK Auda de Letonia) y Juan Godoy (Always Ready de Bolivia).

En la misma llave del repechaje de Bolivia se encuentra el seleccionado de Iraq, que, gracias a su mejor clasificación en el ranking de la FIFA, espera en la final al ganador entre Bolivia y Suriname.

Sin embargo, el entrenador iraquí Graham Arnold le pidió apoyo a la FIFA por las dificultades que afronta su selección de cara al repechaje, debido al conflicto en Medio Oriente.

Iraq busca clasificarse al Mundial después de cuatro décadas de ausencia, pero la guerra de Estados Unidos e Israel contra Irán ha desatado el caos en la región, y como el propio entrenador aseguró en una entrevista a CNN World Sport, necesita el apoyo de la FIFA, ya que no considera justo para ellos la falta de preparación.

“Creo que la FIFA necesita tomar una decisión rápida sobre esto porque es un poco injusto en este momento, con todo lo que tendríamos que pasar. Si Suriname aún puede jugar contra Bolivia y nosotros no podemos llegar, podríamos jugar contra el ganador justo antes del Mun

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By Eyad Kourdi, Charbel Mallo, Zeena Saifi, CNN

(CNN) — In a remarkable statement Monday afternoon, Lebanon called for direct talks with Israel on “permanent arrangements for security and stability on our borders,” while accusing the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah of betraying the country.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun detailed his plan during a virtual meeting with European Union officials, in which he leveled sharp criticism at Hezbollah and Israel for what he called “an attempt to corner my country.” He accused Israel of showing “no respect for the laws of war, nor for international laws.” Israel’s assault on Lebanon has displaced more than 600,000 people and killed more than 400, including scores of women and children, Aoun said.

But it is his criticism of Hezbollah that is significant. Calling the Shiite Muslim group “an armed faction … that places no value on Lebanon’s interest nor on the life of its people,” Aoun said Hezbollah “wanted to achieve the fall of the State of Lebanon, under aggression and chaos.” He accused the group of working “for the sake of the calculations of the Iranian regime.”

“After Hezbollah’s decision to enter the regional fight around Iran — a decision that put the Lebanese government in deep embarrassment — the main worry of Beirut’s authorities has become to clearly delink themselves from Hezbollah’s actions, mainly in order to spare the entire country the deadly costs of an all-out Israeli reprisal,” said Joseph Bahout, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.

Aoun called for a new initiative, backed by the international community, which would establish a truce between Israel and Lebanon while helping the Lebanese armed forces disarm Hezbollah and confiscate its weaponry. The initiative would put in a place a “complete truce” with a halt to Israeli attacks as the two countries begin “direct negotiations under international sponsorship” to achieve a “final cessation of hostile acts” and “permanent arrangements for security and stability on our borders.” Under Aoun’s idea, Israel would gradually withdraw from the territories it has occupied in southern Lebanon, with its forces to be replaced by the Lebanese military.

Last week, Lebanon’s government declared Hezbollah’s military activities illegal, but it does not have the force required to effectively disarm Hezbollah on its own. Aoun nevertheless noted the importance of the March 2 decision, saying, “This is what we want to implement clearly and decisively.”

However, Lebanon’s inability to implement this decision makes the new initiative questionable at best.

“The central flaw and limitation of the Lebanese initiative is that, barring any substantial and decisive progress on its pledge to disarm Hezbollah, any negotiations it would embark on would be considered vain and useless,” Bahout said.

It’s not clear if Israel would engage on Aoun’s idea. The Israeli military chief has said Israel will not stop its operations in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, which appears to leave little room for diplomacy, especially amid intense fighting along the border. Israel has also issued evacuation warnings for much of southern Lebanon, parts of the capital, Beirut, and the Beqaa Valley as it tries to target Hezbollah across the country.

Despite a nominal 2024 ceasefire, Israel has been carrying out near-daily strikes in Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of attempting to rearm and reestablish itself. Soon after the joint US-Israel attack on Iran, He