A stunning volley from Lautaro Martinez was enough to give world champions Argentina a 1-0 victory over Peru, while Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Uruguay on Tuesday in South American World Cup qualifying. Argentina remain at the top of the CONMEBOL standings and their qualification for the 2026 tournament is certainly a matter of time. It was far from a vintage performance from Lionel Scaloni’s side, but a moment of magic from Inter Milan’s Martinez proved decisive at the ‘Bombonera’ stadium in Buenos Aires. Lionel Messi floated in a cross from the left and Martinez leapt into the air and sat back as he blasted a thunderous left-footed volley past Pedro Gallese.

Argentina’s eighth win from twelve games puts Argentina at the top of the table with 25 points, five points ahead of Uruguay, who earned a valuable point at Brazil.

Five-time World Cup winner Brazil worked for a long time in the match in Salvador and fell behind in the 55th minute to a fine finish from Uruguayan Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde.

LIONEL MESSI WITH AN INSANE ASSIST, LAUTARO WITH AN INSANE GOAL

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But Brazil equalized seven minutes later when a header fell kindly to Gerson, who smashed home a perfectly struck volley.

Gabriel Martinelli came close to a winner when he switched feet with a deft touch, before a volley drew a fine save from Sergio Rochet.

The draw puts Brazil in fifth place with 18 points, one point behind fourth-place Colombia, who suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Ecuador in Barranquilla.

Veteran striker Enner Valencia stunned the home crowd with an excellent solo effort in the seventh minute, with the former West Ham United striker breaking free from three Colombian defenders and bursting into the penalty area before firing home.

Colombian forward Jhon Cordoba then missed a golden opportunity to level the score, getting off balance and missing from scratch after being set up by James Rodriguez.

Cordoba was at the center of the incident in the 34th minute, which left Ecuador short-handed for the remainder of the match.

The lanky striker drove clear and rounded Ecuador keeper Hernan Galindez before going down as Piero Hincapie closed in on him.

The referee ruled that Hincapie had tripped the attacker and despite a lengthy appeal and a VAR review, the decision stood.

Galindez was then alert to keep out Rodriguez’s resulting free-kick and the keeper had a busy end to half-time as Colombia peppered his goal.

Liverpool winger Luis Diaz headed Daniel Munoz’s cross against the post and Galindez did well to smother Cordoba from close range.

Colombia grew increasingly frustrated as Ecuador’s defense held firm in the second half, with Galindez parrying to keep out substitute Jhon Duran and the hapless Cordoba firing the loose ball high and wide from a tight angle.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Paraguay earned a 2-2 draw against Bolivia, with the home side taking the lead in the 15th minute with Ervin Vaca’s confident strike.

Newcastle United striker Miguel Almiron leveled for Paraguay in the 71st minute with a clinical finish after a clever passing move across the box.

Bolivia restored the lead nine minutes later with a penalty from Miguel Terceros after Gustavo Gomez brought down Lucas Chavez in the penalty area.

Both banks were involved in protests and Bolivian substitute Adalid Terrazas and substitute Diego Gomez from Paraguay both received red cards.

Paraguay somehow grabbed a point in stoppage time with a superb solo performance from Julio Enciso, who dribbled from deep before unleashing a thunderous drive from 20 yards out.

Ninth-placed Chile still have a lot of work to do if they want to earn one of the six automatic qualification places, but boosted their faint hopes with a 4-2 thrashing of Venezuela.

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