Vini Jr scored the winning goal as Brazil beat Paraguay 1-0 at the Neo Quimica Arena to secure FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification.&nbsp;
Vinicius Jr clinched Carlo Ancelotti his first win in their hot seat after fine work from Matheus Cunha. Paraguay came into the game in the second half and, despite defeat, are an inch away from qualification, boasting a six-point advantage over Venezuela.
The victory was a special gift for Ancelotti, who turned 66 on Tuesday and was honoured by the Brazilian fans, before the start of the game, with an immense mosaic on the Neo Qu&iacute;mica seats, where it read in green and yellow &ldquo;Congratulations, Carletto&rdquo;.
Ancelotti's first victory in charge of the Brazilian national team broke Paraguay's nine-game unbeaten run in the qualifiers. Brazil became the first team to beat Paraguay in 10 qualifiers. The Selecao have now lost just one of their last 70 World Cup qualifiers at home.
This was the third time that Brazil secured a spot in a World Cup while playing at the Neo Qu&iacute;mica Arena. In 2017, they beat Paraguay and sealed their place in the World Cup in Russia, which was held in 2018. Then, in 2021, they beat Colombia and secured a spot in the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
Meanwhile, Ecuador qualified for their fifth World Cup this century after a goalless draw with Peru.
Realistically, Peru required victory. Despite being roared on throughout in Lima, Oscar Ibanez&rsquo;s charges couldn&rsquo;t break down a backline cemented by bricks Piero Hincapie and Willian Pacho &ndash; not even after Ecuador&rsquo;s Alan Franco was given his marching orders in the 75th minute. Sebastian Beccacece and his players celebrated World Cup qualification wildly at the final whistle.
Elsewhere, Uruguay are all but there, a Giorgian de Arrascaeta screamer helping them move six points inside the automatic qualification places, and a breathtaking Luis Diaz goal earned a draw in Argentina that edged Colombia closer. Elsewhere, Miguel Terceros starred as Bolivia snatched themselves a lifeline.
Uruguay have one foot in a fifth successive World Cup. Rodrigo Aguirre headed home the first. Giorgian de Arrascaeta smacked home the second. Marcelo Bielsa&rsquo;s Celeste are now six points ahead of seventh-placed Venezuela and have a vastly superior goal difference, with two rounds remaining.
Luis Diaz, a serial scorer of wonder goals, produced one of his best yet. The Liverpool winger danced past three opponents and broke the deadlock. Colombia seemed on course for victory when Enzo Fernandez was sent off in the 70th minute, but Thiago Almada arrowed home an equaliser for Argentina. Nestor Lorenzo&rsquo;s Cafeteros are now four points clear of seventh-placed Venezuela.
Diaz became the first Colombian to score in Argentina in World Cup qualifying since Carlos Valderrama in 1997. The 28-year-old is now only one goal shy of becoming the fifth man to reach 20 goals for Los Cafeteros after Faustino Asprilla (20), Arnoldo Iguaran (25), James Rodriguez (29) and Radamel Falcao (36), reports FIFA.
Bolivia burst out of the blocks and were rewarded when &lsquo;Miguelito&rsquo; controlled Diego Medina&rsquo;s cutback and finished clinically. A reckless Lucas Chavez challenge left Oscar Villegas&rsquo;s side a man down after 19 minutes, but numerical parity was restored shortly into the second half when Francisco Sierralta saw red. Bolivia sealed victory in El Alto when Enzo Monteiro tapped home after Brayan Cortes had repelled a Terceros drive. La Verde are now one point behind Venezuela, who occupy the play-off tournament place.
The triple Olympic champion swimmer Summer McIntosh has shattered the world record in the 200m individual medley, rewriting Hungarian legend Katinka Hosszu's decade-old mark.&nbsp;
McIntosh, who won three gold medals at the 2024 Olympic in Paris, clocked 2 minutes, 5.70 seconds on Monday at the Canadian trials for the World Championships in Singapore in July and August.
She split 57.99 on the opening 100 to be .95 ahead of the world record pace at the halfway mark, only to fall off the a bit on the breaststroke leg. McIntosh trailed Hosszu&rsquo;s world record pace by .14 heading into the final 50 before racing home in 29.95 to shatter the old record.
"It's awesome and 200m IM I think is my main race out of my top five, six races where I really have to execute perfectly,&rdquo; McIntosh said.
McIntosh broke her second world record in the meet&rsquo;s first three days. She demolished the 400m freestyle world record on Saturday in 3:54.18 to open the qualifiers. Then on Sunday, she swam the third-fastest 800m free in history, trailing only Katie Ledecky&rsquo;s top two times.&nbsp;
The 18-year-old Canadian was previously the third-fastest 200m IMer in history thanks to her 2:06.56 to win Paris Olympic gold. With Monday&rsquo;s time, she passed American Ariana Kukors, who swam 2:06.15 at the 2009 Worlds, and Hosszu.
"Breaststroke has always been my weakest so getting through that 50, just trying to get to the wall and knowing that I'll be really strong in that last 50 because my freestyle has been great here so far.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Overall I'm really happy with that time and I always just trying to keep pushing forward but I'll have to look over my splits to see where my breaststroke was but happy with it," McIntosh, who will swim the 200m butterfly on Tuesday, said.
McIntosh won three gold medals in 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly and 400m medley event at the Paris Games last year.
(Apart from the headline, this article has not been edited by Benefit News editorial team and is published from an IANS news feed.)

Vinicius Jr celebrates Brazil's 1-0 win to seal WC 2026 spot

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Ancelotti’s Brazil clinch spot as qualification drama intensifies across South America

June 11, 2025 | 10:17 IST