24 Mar 2017

Brazil all but secure a place in Russia

3:45 pm on 24 March 2017

Brazil recovered from conceding an early goal to beat Uruguay 4-1 in Montevideo, with midfielder Paulinho scoring a hat- trick in a win that all but cements their place at next year's World Cup finals in Russia.

Brazilian footballer Paulinho

Brazilian footballer Paulinho Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The victory lifted leaders Brazil to 30 points in the 10-team South American qualifying group - a tally that has been more than enough to guarantee qualification in previous campaigns.

The five-time World Cup winners lead second-placed Uruguay by seven points with five rounds remaining.

Lionel Messi converted a penalty as Argentina laboured to a 1-0 win over Chile in Buenos Aires.

The victory put Argentina back in the automatic qualifying spots for next year's finals, moving them up from sixth to third on 22 points. Chile, 20 points, fell to sixth on goal difference.

Colombia beat Bolivia 1-0 in Barranquilla, with an 83rd minute penalty deciding their encounter in favour of the hosts.

The points lifted Colombia to fourth place on 21 points. Bolivia are languishing second from bottom on seven points.

Elsewhere, Ecuador's 2-1 defeat in Paraguay resulted in them dropping from third to fifth.

Seventh-place Paraguay are now just two points adrift of Ecuador and Chile.

Peru salvaged a 2-2 draw at rock-bottom Venezuela to stay in touch with the top five.

The top four teams qualify automatically for Russia 2018 and the fifth-placed side go into a playoff with the winner from Oceania.

-Reuters

Standings P W D L F A Pts

Brazil 13 9 3 1 32 10 30

Uruguay 13 7 2 4 25 15 23

Argentina 13 6 4 3 15 12 22

Colombia 13 6 3 4 16 15 21

Ecuador 13 6 2 5 23 18 20

Chile 13 6 2 5 21 18 20

Paraguay 13 5 3 5 13 18 18

Peru 13 4 3 6 20 22 15

Bolivia 13 2 1 10 10 32 7

Venezuela 13 1 3 9 16 31 6