Vinicius Jr. was on target to give Carlo Ancelotti his first win as Brazil head coach in a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in Sao Paolo, a result that earns the five-time world champions a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Real Madrid star scored the winner from close range on the stroke of half-time to put Brazil in third place, level on 25 points with second-placed Ecuador with two games to go.
Ecuador joined Brazil to qualify for the World Cup thanks to a goalless draw at Peru, while Venezuela suffered a blow in their quest for automatic qualification after a 2-0 loss at Uruguay.
Elsewhere, World Cup holders Argentina played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Colombia in Buenos Aires. Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a fine individual goal for Colombia, while Argentina went down to 10 men after Enzo Fernandez was sent off with 20 minutes to go.
But the CONMEBOL qualifying series leaders earned a point nine minutes from time thanks to Thiago Almada’s goal. The result leaves Colombia needing a win in their next qualifying match to seal a place at the World Cup.