Brazil win, Argentina draw while Peru seal WC playoff berth

Peru sealed a World Cup playoff spot on Tuesday after a 2-0 win over Paraguay secured fifth place in the South American qualifying group.

Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay had already secured South America’s four automatic spots.

Peru will meet either the United Arab Emirates or Australia, who play the Asian confederation playoff in Doha on June 7, for a place in Qatar. The inter-confederation playoff will take place in Doha on June 13 or 14.

Peru also had to go through a playoff to reach the last World Cup in Russia, defeating New Zealand over two legs to qualify for their first finals since Spain in 1982.

On Tuesday, the Andean side started the night with 21 points, one more than Colombia and two ahead of Chile, knowing that a win over Paraguay in the final round of qualifying would be enough to wrap up the playoff spot.

In the night’s other games, Brazil beat Bolivia 4-0 in La Paz thanks to goals from Lucas Paqueta, Bruno Guimaraes - his first for the national side - and a double for Richarlison.

The win took Brazil’s points total to 45, a record in the South American qualifying section. Tite’s men are unbeaten in their 17 group games so far, and they still have one match to play against Argentina.

Argentina drew 1-1 at Ecuador after Julian Alvarez’s early goal was canceled out in stoppage time by the home side’s Enner Valencia, who converted the rebound after his penalty was saved.

That result extended Argentina’s unbeaten run in all matches under Lionel Scaloni to a record-equaling 31. Alfio Basile led Argentina to 31 matches undefeated between 1991 and 1993.

Colombia beat Venezuela 1-0 thanks to a James Rodriguez penalty, while Luis Suarez, with a bicycle kick, and Federico Valverde gave Uruguay a 2-0 win over Chile in Santiago.

ARR