Brazil cruise past Paraguay in comfortable 4-0 win

Brazil scored twice in the last four minutes, including a fi rst international goal for Real Madrid striker Rodrygo, to cap a comfortable 4-0 win over Paraguay in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifi er in Belo Horizonte.

The defeat ended Paraguay’s hopes of qualifying for Qatar and further cemented Brazil’s position as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in December.

Brazil top the South American qualifying group with no defeats in 15 games and the win extended to 61 matches their unbeaten home record in World Cup qualifi ers.

Chile beat Bolivia to keep hopes alive
Uruguay and Chile recorded crucial wins on Tuesday to keep their World Cup qualifi cation hopes alive on a night when Ecuador moved a point closer to a guaranteed spot in Qatar thanks to a 1-1 draw with Peru.

Lionel Messi-less Argentina defeat Colombia
Argentina extended their unbeaten run to 29 games on Tuesday when they beat a toothless Colombia 1-0 in a World Cup qualifi er. Lautaro Martinez got the only goal of an untidy game after 29 minutes when he took advantage of slack defending to rifl e home from inside the penalty area.

Ecuador secure playoff spot
It took Ecuador only two minutes to start dreaming of its return to the World Cup, when Michael Estrada calmly put it in the back of the net after a long pass from a defender. Peru struggled to block the Ecuadorians, but pulled even in the 69th minute with a header by Edison Flores — and the backing of the crowd.

South Korea qualifies; costly draw for Aussies
South Korea qualifi ed for a 10th successive World Cup after beating Syria 2-0 in Dubai on Tuesday. Australia allowed a late goal and settled for a 2-2 draw with Oman in Muscat. Australia stays third in Group B though moves onto 15 points.

Uruguay hammer Venezuela 4-1
Uruguay gave new coach Diego Alonso his second consecutive win on the job — a 4-1 hammering of Venezuela. Rodrigo Betancur, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez all scored for Uruguay. Venezuela’s only goal was from Josef Martinez. Uruguay could secure its WorldCup spot with a home win against Peru in the next round.

15 teams qualifi ed for the 32-team WC so far:
•Qatar
•Argentina
•Belgium
•Brazil
•Croatia
•Denmark
•England
•France
•Germany
•Iran
•The Netherlands
•Serbia
•South Korea
•Spain
•Switzerland

Results:
Brazil 4-0 Paraguay
Peru 1-1 Ecuador
Bolivia 2-3 Chile
Uruguay 4-1 Venezuela
Argentina 1-0 Colombia