CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying continues on Thursday evening with three matches in South America.
Here’s what’s happened so far.
Paraguay 2-1 Argentina
Scorers: Sanabria 19′, Alderete 48′; Martinez 11′
Paraguay erased an early deficit to stun Argentina at home in World Cup qualifying.
Argentina dominated the ball from the opening whistle and it didn’t take long for them to find their reward in the opener.
While Lautaro MartÃnez had a half-time goal disallowed for offside in the build-up, a VAR review overturned the decision to see the visitors take an early lead.
But their lead did not last long, as a brilliant goal from Antonio Sanabria brought the home team level before the twenty minute mark.
After the break, Argentina continued to control possession but they were caught out again when Omar Alderete headed home from a set-piece just minutes after the restart.
The reigning world champions looked to up their game, bringing in the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Taty Castellanos to shake things up in attack, but Paraguay held on despite the pressure to hold on for a stunning result.
Venezuela 1-1 Brazil
Scorers: Segovia 46′; Raphinha 43′
Thanks to a penalty miss by Vinicius Junior in the second half, Venezuela managed to hold on and share the points with Brazil in Monagas.
The two teams traded chances in the first half of the game, and without heroic defending and goalkeeping it could have been a goal-rich affair.
But it took until the final minutes of the half for the deadlock to be broken, and it was done in style as Raphinha kissed a free-kick from the post before doing the Neymar celebration as he donned his number 10 shirt.
The visitors’ lead would not last long, however, as Telasco Segovia fired home the equalizer with aplomb just three minutes into the second break.
Brazil had a chance to find the winner after the hour when Vinicius Junior was cleared in the penalty area, but Real Madrid saw its poor penalty attempt saved.
While Venezuela may have had plans to find a late winner, their efforts were undone when Alexander González was sent off in the final minutes.
Due to the shared points, Brazil rises to third place for the time being, while Venezuela remains in seventh place.
Ecuador 4-0 Bolivia
📸 Christian Alvarenga – 2024 Getty Images
