Carlo Ancelotti secures first win as Brazil qualify for 2026 World Cup finals

MONTEVIDEO: Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup securing a 1-0 victory against Paraguay here at Corinthians Arena on Tuesday in South American qualifying.

The victory was Carlo Ancelotti’s first as Brazil's manager, as they climbed to third position with  25 points and two matches to play.

Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia respectively occupy the fourth, fifth and sixth positions, and secured the remaining three automatic qualification positions ahead of the final two fixtures in September. 

Venezuela, seventh with 18 points, would earn a playoff spot against a team from another confederation by finishing in seventh place.

Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Jr. scored on the stroke of halftime to give his team a 1-0 lead, which proved to be a winning goal.

Vinicius reflected on his victory saying they needed the win to provide joy to their home fans and qualify for the World Cup.

"I'm very happy with today's result. We needed to win at home for our fans too and qualify for the World Cup, which was our goal," Vinicius said.

"Now (Ancelotti) will have more time to work, to see what he can improve. Today wasn't one of our best games, but the important thing in qualifying is to win and prepare well for the World Cup," he added.

Brazil extended their record as the only team to play in every edition of the World Cup, with the five-time winners appearing for the 23rd time in next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Meanwhile, Ecuador drew 0-0 with Peru to book a spot in next summer’s tournament, they will play their second straight World Cup. 

The draw ended Peru's hopes of qualifying, leaving them with 12 points, six behind Venezuela.

Uruguay took a step closer to securing a spot with a 2-0 home victory over Venezuela at the Estadio Centenario, a victory which also snapped a four-match winless run in South American qualifiers.

Uruguay’s Rodrigo Aguirre put the hosts ahead in the 42nd minute, while Giorgian De Arrascaeta doubled the lead just two minutes into the second half, targeting the top-left corner to seal a win that secures Marcelo Bielsa's side of at least an inter-confederation playoff berth.

Uruguay need only one point from their final two matches against Peru and Chile to make sure of a place in the finals.

Furthermore, defending champions Argentina played a 1-1 draw against Colombia, with an 81st-minute equaliser from Thiago Almada to cancel out Luis Diaz's goal, avoiding a second straight defeat to Nestor Lorenzo's side.

Chile's hopes of reaching the finals ended with a 2-0 loss to Bolivia. Chile coach Ricardo Gareca resigned after the match.