Brazil, Ecuador, Australia qualify for 2026 World Cup finals

Brazil and Ecuador secured their spots at the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday, taking the second and third of South America's six automatic qualifying berths after champions Argentina booked their ticket in March.

In the Asian zone, Australia sealed qualification with a win against Saudi Arabia.

Brazil beat Paraguay 1-0 while Ecuador drew 0-0 with Peru as both teams climbed to 25 points with two matches to play, beyond the reach of Venezuela in seventh place.

Uruguay (24 points), Paraguay (24) and Colombia (22) occupy the remaining three automatic qualification positions ahead of the final two fixtures in September. Venezuela (18) would earn a playoff spot against a team from another confederation by finishing seventh.

In Sao Paulo, a goal from Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Jr on the stroke of half time made it a winning home debut for Brazil's new coach Carlo Ancelotti.

“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.”

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

Ecuador qualified for their second straight World Cup by avoiding defeat in Peru. The visitors were penned in their own half for the final 20 minutes after midfielder Alan Franco was shown a second yellow card.

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

Earlier on Tuesday, 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 dominated much of the first half but struggled to break down a well-organised Venezuelan defence until Rodrigo Aguirre put the hosts ahead in the 42nd minute, heading in at the far post from a Maxi Araujo corner.

Giorgian De Arrascaeta doubled Uruguay's lead just two minutes into the second half, firing a superb shot into 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 at the finals.

Argentina needed an 81st-minute equaliser from Thiago Almada to cancel out Luis Diaz's goal and secure a draw with Colombia, avoiding a second straight defeat to Nestor Lorenzo's side.

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

in Jeddah, Australia clinched their qualification when Tony Popovic's side secured a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia, while Oman kept their hopes of a place at the finals alive with a last-gasp 1-1 draw with Palestine in Jordan.

The Socceroos had to avoid a five-goal defeat to confirm their appearance at a sixth consecutive finals and goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke earned the Australians a come-from-behind win to brush aside the Saudis.

Abdulrahman Al-Obud had given the home side a glimmer of hope when he netted from close range in the 19th minute but Metcalfe equalised with three minutes left in the half to extinguish Saudi dreams.

Duke then put the visitors in front in the 48th minute when he glanced Martin Boyle's free kick past Nawaf Al-Aqidi before Maty Ryan, making his 100th appearance for the Socceroos, made a late penalty save to deny Salem Al-Dawsari an equaliser.

The win confirms the Australians as second-place finisher in Group C behind Japan, who secured their spot at the finals in March.

Saudi Arabia took third place in Group C and will feature in a fourth phase of qualifiers in October alongside Indonesia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman.

The Omanis kept their hopes alive at the expense of Palestine as Issam Al-Sabhi's penalty deep into stoppage time earned the Gulf side a draw that kept them in fourth place in Group B.

Already-qualified Iran confirmed themselves as Group A winners with a 3-0 win over North Korea in Tehran.

Also-qualified Uzbekistan took second spot with a 3-0 win against Qatar in Tashkent while the UAE claimed third ahead of the Qataris despite conceding a late goal to draw 1-1 with Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek.

South Korea completed their commitments in Group B with a 4-0 thrashing of Kuwait to ensure Hong Myung-bo's World Cup-bound outfit topped the standings with an unbeaten record.

Jordan, who qualified for their first World Cup on Thursday, finished second in Group B despite losing 1-0 to Graham Arnold's Iraq in Amman. 

Reuters