On a day overshadowed by the shocking suspension of the superclasico between Brazil and Argentina because of breaches of COVID-19 restrictions, Uruguay and Colombia added key points in South American qualifying for the World Cup.
The Uruguayans thrashed Bolivia 4-2 at home to move into fourth place with 12 points after eight matches. Colombia had a 1-1 draw at Paraguay. It was Colombia’s third consecutive draw, but enough for Reinaldo Rueda’s lineup to stop Paraguay moving into fifth spot in the standings.
The top four teams in South American qualifiers get direct spots at next year’s World Cup in Qatar, and the fifth-placed team will go into an intercontinental playoff.
FIFA will decide the future of the qualifier between competition-leading Brazil and second-place Argentina. Their match was stopped after 7 minutes with a 0-0 score when local health authorities walked onto the field in a bid to remove three England-based Argentina players who they believe should have been in quarantine rather than playing in Sao Paulo.
Brazil leads the pack with 21 points from seven matches, followed by Argentina with 15.
Also on Sunday, Ecuador was held to a 0-0 draw by Chile. Peru beat Venezuela 1-0 with a goal by Christian Cueva in the 35th from the edge of the box.
The results: Brazil v Argentina suspended, Ecuador 0 drew with Chile 0; Paraguay 1 (Sanabria 40) drew with Colombia 1 (Cuadrado 53-pen); Uruguay 4 (De Arrascaeta 15, 67-pen, Valverde 31, Alvarez Martinez 47) bt Bolivia 2 (Martins 59, 84-pen); Peru 1 (Cueva 35) bt Venezuela 0.
