Sao Paulo, November 12

Brazil is celebrating as the first South American team to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar — with several matches in hand and more than a year before the tournament begins in Qatar.

South American soccer body CONMEBOL confirmed Brazil as the first team of the region to qualify, with 11 wins in 12 matches. The latest came Thursday night in Sao Paulo, with Lucas Paqueta scoring the only goal in the 72nd minute in a 1-0 win over Colombia.

The Selecao are 18 points ahead of fourth-placed Chile, who can add only 15 points from their five remaining matches.

The top-four teams in South America earn direct entry to the World Cup.

“This is the result of great work we started way back,” Paqueta said after the match.

Also, third-placed Ecuador beat last-placed Venezuela 1-0 with a goal by Piero Hincapie and Chile had a key 1-0 victory at Paraguay thanks to an own goal by Antony Silva after a corner kick.

Sweden’s loss is Spain’s gain

Madrid: Spain, Portugal and Croatia all put themselves one game away from securing World Cup qualification, while Sweden’s hopes took a heavy blow with a surprising loss.

Spain beat Greece 1-0 thanks to Pablo Sarabia’s penalty to overtake Sweden, who slipped to a 2-0 loss at already-eliminated Georgia. Spain host Sweden on Sunday in one of three winner-takes-all matches to decide World Cup places.

Another decisive fixture pits Portugal against Serbia after a frustrating 0-0 away draw for Cristiano Ronaldo’s team against Ireland. Croatia and Russia also face-off for a spot in Qatar after each had a big win Thursday.

In Group J, already qualified Germany cruised to a 9-0 win against Liechtenstein after early concerns for midfielder Leon Goretzka when he was struck in the head and neck by an opponent’s boot.

North Macedonia leads the race for a playoff spot after beating Armenia 5-0 and will secure second place with a win over Iceland on Sunday. — AP