Nicolás Otamendi gave Argentina a rare success in Brazil, while Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay also emerged triumphant.

Brazil's distinction of never having lost a FIFA World Cup™ qualifying match at home was abolished by their fiercest rivals at the Maracana. A header from Nicolás Otamendi resolved a spicy Superclásico in favor of Argentina, which kept them on top.

Uruguay remained two points behind the leader by achieving victory over Bolivia, with Darwin Núñez once again as its hero. On the other hand, Rafael Santos Borré and Ángel Mena turned out to be the winners of the match for Colombia and Ecuador respectively, while Peru and Venezuela shared points.

Results.

Paraguay 0-1 Colombia

Uruguay 3-0 Bolivia

Ecuador 1-0 Chile

Brazil 0-0 Argentina

Peru 1-1 Venezuela

Borré keeps the coffee growers in the World Cup rhythm.

Colombia consolidated third place and ensured that Paraguay remained seventh. An early penalty from Rafael Santos Borré broke the deadlock and Los Cafeteros controlled the game for much of the match thereafter. The late introduction of 40-year-old Oscar Cardozo injected some life into Paraguay, but Colombia held on and achieved a great victory.

Cardozo became the third player aged 40 or over to represent Paraguay after Gabriel González and Justo Villar.

Incredibly, Colombia has won six and drawn one of its last seven visits to Paraguay in World Cup qualifying.

Los Cafeteros have kept a clean sheet in four consecutive away games in the qualifiers for the world finals. The last time they conceded a goal on their travels was when Lautaro Martínez scored the only goal in Argentina in February 2022.

Manchester United and Liverpool may be archenemies, but Facundo Pellistri and Darwin Núñez were on the same page.

After an own goal, Núñez got his second, this time thanks to an astute header assist from another in tune Uruguayan: Nicolás de la Cruz. Luis Suárez came off the bench in his first appearance with 'El Loco' Bielsa. Is there a better South American forward than Núñez?

Darwin Núñez became the third Uruguayan to score in four consecutive World Cup qualifying games, after Rubén Sosa and Luis Suárez.

Uruguay won three consecutive World Cup qualifying matches without conceding a goal for the first time since 1993.

Núñez became the only seventh player to score five goals in the first six rounds of South American qualification for a World Cup. He emulated Faustino Asprilla, José Cardozo, Ronaldo, Luis Suárez, Marcelo Martins and Neymar.

Mena and a key victory for Ecuador.

Ángel Mena's first international goal in more than two years proved enough to secure victory for injury-hit Ecuador over Chile. The result moved La Tri above Brazil and into fifth place, and left La Roja in eighth place.

Surprisingly, Nicolás Córdova became the first Chilean-born coach in 18 years to coach La Roja. After the dismissal of Juvenal Olmos in 2005, eight foreign coaches successively took charge of the team.

Ángel Mena, at 35 years and 304 days, became the oldest player to score for Ecuador in the World Cup qualifiers.

Argentina makes history at the Maracaná.

Argentina beat Brazil in the last Copa América final at the Maracana, and tonight inflicted their arch-rivals' first home defeat in a World Cup qualifier at the same venue. A Nicolás Otamendi header made the difference in a bad-tempered clash in which Joelinton was sent off. He kept the Albiceleste in pole position and left the Seleção, with just one point in their last four outings, to sixth place.

Brazil had won 51 and drawn 13 of their home World Cup qualifying matches before the sixth round.

The Selecao have failed to score in four consecutive games against Argentina for the first time in their history.

Source images: Twitter FIFA WorldCup