Brazil Becomes First To Qualify For World Cup

Brazil Becomes First To Qualify For World Cup – Brazil became the first country to qualify for the 2018 World Cup on Tuesday after Uruguay crashed to an upset 2-1 defeat against Peru.

The Brazilians had moved to the brink of qualification after defeating Paraguay 3-0 in Sao Paulo earlier Tuesday.

But Uruguay’s surprise loss in Lima and results elsewhere mean Brazil are guaranteed one of the four automatic qualifying berths from South America.

It was Brazil’s eighth consecutive win in qualifying and ensures they will finish the 10-nation group in at least fifth place, which would be enough for a playoff against a team from Oceania for a berth at the Russia finals.

Brazil lead the standings on 33 points with four matches to play, 11 points ahead of arch-rivals Argentina, who slipped back into fifth after a 2-0 defeat away to Bolivia without suspended captain Lionel Messi. The top four teams qualify automatically.

Paraguay are in seventh spot on 18 points.

The early part of the match was marked by a string of fouls on Neymar but the first big chance was a breakaway by Paraguay’s Derlis Gonzalez, who hurried his shot and put the ball wide.

Midfielder Hernan Perez missed another chance for Paraguay before Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring for the hosts in the 34th minute at the Corinthians Arena.

The Liverpool playmaker played a neat one-two with Paulinho before curling a low, left-foot shot past goalkeeper Anthony Silva and inside the far corner.

Neymar was awarded a penalty after being brought down early in the second half but his stop-start run-up failed to deceive Silva and the keeper saved with a dive to his right then blocked his effort with the rebound.

Stung by the miss, Neymar made up for it 10 minutes later, scampering down the left wing from inside his own half, skipping tackles and driving into the box before beating a wrong-footed Silva with a shot that took a deflection off a defender.