Luis Suarez was held scoreless in his international farewell as Uruguay played out a 0-0 home draw with Paraguay on the second day of matchday seven of CONMEBOL qualifying for FIFA World Cup 26™.
The legendary forward was hoping to add to his career total of 69 goals with the national team, but a strong Paraguayan defence made sure there would be no festive atmosphere in the Uruguayan capital.
Brazil picked up an important 1-0 home victory against Ecuador, as Rodrygo’s first half strike was enough to give A Seleção maximum points in a nervy affair.
The final game of the night saw Luis Diaz rescue a point for Colombia in a 1-1 draw with Peru after Alexander Callens had opened the scoring.
Uruguay 0-0 Paraguay
In new head coach Gustavo Alfaro’s debut, Paraguay spoiled Suarez’s farewell by earning a scoreless draw at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo. Uruguay still sit comfortably in second place in the table with 14 points through seven matches, while Paraguay are seventh with six points.
Suarez was keen to make this a finale to remember and nearly pulled off a spectacular scissor-kick in the 18th minute, only for the ball to thump the post.
Otherwise, it was a very physical match with the lone Paraguayan chance in the first 45 minutes coming for Miguel Almiron, who was denied by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet.
The deadlock persisted into the second half, with the post once again coming to the fore when Paraguay’s Diego Gomez launched an effort that hit the woodwork shortly before the hour mark.
Paraguay were growing into the game and Uruguay were spared when Julio Enciso narrowly missed the target midway through the half. In the end, the teams would share the spoils, thus completing Suarez’s stellar international career.
Brazil 1-0 Ecuador
Brazil secured a crucial win by downing Ecuador at the Estadio Couto Pereira in Curitiba, spoiling the debut of new Tricolor coach Sebastian Beccacece. Brazil climb to fourth in the table with 10 points, while Ecuador remain in sixth with eight points.
Brazil went right to work on finding a goal and Rodrygo provided the breakthrough on the half-hour mark with a top-spinning, right-footed, shot across goal that bounced and banged in off the post for a 1-0 lead.
Ecuador had a golden opportunity to pull level right before half-time with Moises Caicedo only needing to beat goalkeeper Alisson, but the Liverpool shot-stopper was up to the task and made the save to preserve his side’s lead.
An infusion of second half substitutes sparked life into the Brazil attack and a chance was presented to Vinicius Jr. to double the lead, only to see the Real Madrid man unable to steer a shot on target.
The fans in Curitiba were left feeling uneasy at the end with every foray forward by Ecuador, especially when John Mercado had a free crack at goal with 10 minutes left and Ecuador had a dangerous free kick in stoppage time that the visitors survived.
Peru 1-1 Colombia
Luis Diaz scored late to rescue Colombia from defeat against last-place Peru at the Estadio Nacional in Lima. Colombia continue in third place in the table with 13 points, while Peru remain stuck at the bottom with three points. Los Cafeteros are now unbeaten in their last nine qualifying matches.
There was little in the way of chances through the first hour; an Alex Varela shot for Peru that was saved by Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas was one of the rare openings.
Peru kept poking and prodding and carved out the game’s opening goal in the 68th minute when a cross from the right flank sent in by Sergio Pena was met at the back post by Callens for the goal.
Just when Peru were entertaining thoughts of maximum points, Colombia spoiled the party in the 82nd minute when a James Rodriguez corner kick was headed on by Jhon Duran and Diaz met it at the back post with another header for the goal.
