Brazil rout Paraguay as Uruguay took a massive step towards qualification

(Football news) Brazil produced a clinical performance as they won 4-0 against Paraguay. The defeat ended Paraguay's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup this year and further cemented Brazil's position as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Qatar. Brazil top of 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 qualifiers. It was a mixed night for Raphinha, who scored one, had another ruled off, and also hit the post. The Leeds United winger thought he had put Brazil 1-0 up after just 93 seconds only to see the goal ruled out because of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). With 28 minutes on the clock he superbly controlled a long ball from Marquinhos and went past two defenders to put Brazil 1-0 ahead.

Raphinha was unlucky not to get another early in the second half as he saw his volley come back off the post. Philippe Coutinho finally got a deserved second for the home side just after the hour mark, when he placed a marvelous shot into the top corner of the net from 30 meters out. Antony made the scoreline more reflective of the play with four minutes left when he curled a left-foot shot past a helpless keeper Rodrygo tapped home a minute later for his first goal in the Brazilian jersey and also to round off a commanding performance from the five-times world champions.

Argentina just about edged Colombia with a narrow 1-0 victory. Argentina extended their unbeaten run to 29 games on Tuesday when they beat toothless Colombia 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier. Lautaro Martinez got the only goal of the game after 29 minutes when he took advantage of some slack defending from Colombia to fire home from inside the penalty area. The top four teams in the South American qualifiers automatically qualify for Qatar and the fifth-placed side goes into a playoff. Brazil and Argentina have already secured their position in this year's World Cup and Ecuador's 24 points mean they are almost certain to join them as well.

The result leaves Colombia in a very bad position as they are in seventh place in a 10-team table with 17 points, five points behind Uruguay, two behind Chile, and three behind Peru. The match brought together a home side that had not lost a goal in their last four home matches and a Colombian team that had not scored in their last six qualifiers. Both runs were further extended in a game that Argentina controlled without ever looking like in top form.

"No matter who plays, nothing changes," said winger Angel Di Maria. "We remain the same, with the same mentality."

"We show sacrifice and humility. Today we knew we'd face a difficult game and we were able to do what we had to do and move forward."

"A lot was said about the players who were missing, that we weren't at full strength," goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez said. "But we demonstrated that we are not 11 but a really strong group."

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Uruguay continued their revival under new coach Diego Alonso as they won 4-0 against Venezuela. New Tottenham Hotspur signing Rodrigo Bentancur fired Uruguay into the lead as he shot from the edge of the area for his first international goal in the first minute of the match. Alonso had taken a gamble on Manchester United player Facundo Pellistri, who’s currently on loan at Alaves, and the right sided midfielder shone on his second appearance for his country. A delightful dribble set up a goal for Giorgian De Arrascaeta. Another ended in a penalty which was converted by Luis Suarez. Edinson Cavani justified his selection back into the team as he too joined the act with a clever overhead kick. Next month will be tense but Uruguay have moved the odds in their favour, with two wins in the last few days carrying them from seventh in the table to fourth.

The other results were: