A goal by Vinicius Júnior secured Brazil a place in the 2026 World Cup, quite a mmentous home debut for Carlo Ancelotti as head coach.
The once prolific duo at Real Madrid helped Brazil to a 1-0 win over Paraguay at Sao Paulo. Ecuador secured its place at next year’s global tournament later Tuesday with a 0-0 draw at Peru.
Defending champion Argentina, held to a 1-1 draw by Colombia, had already qualified and is assured of finishing atop South American qualifying.
Ecuador and Brazil each have 25 points in the standings, but the Ecuadorians are in second spot based on victories. The two nations are 10 points behind Argentina but, crucially, more than six points clear of the seventh-place team with two games remaining in the qualifying campaign.
The top six teams in South America earn direct entries to the 48-team World Cup.
Chile will miss a third consecutive World Cup after losing 2-0 at Bolivia to remain last in 10-nation round-robin competition, a result that cost head coach Ricardo Gareca his job.
Uruguay beat Venezuela at home 2-0, with goals from Rodrigo Aguirre and Giorgian de Arrascaeta, and edged closer to one of the direct spots with 24 points.
Venezuela, with 18, is one ahead of Bolivia in the contest for seventh place that grants an intercontinental playoff berth.
Lionel Messi had a quiet night in Argentina’s draw with Colombia in Buenos Aires. Luis Díaz opened the scoring for the visitors in the 24th minute. Enzo Fernandez was sent off in the 70th minute to the disappointment of more than 80,000 fans at the Monumental de Nunez Stadium.
But Julián Alvarez scored the equalizer in the 81st with a low crossed shot.
