ZURICH: Uruguay moved top of the South America World Cup qualifying section after a 4-0 win over Paraguay while, in Europe, continental champions Portugal lost 2-0 to Switzerland.
Two goals from Edinson Cavani set Uruguay on their way to victory at the Estadio Centenario over Paraguay with Cristain Rodriguez and Luis Suarez also on target.
Suarez set up Cavani to open the scoring in the 18th minute before Rodriguez headed a second and Suarez made it three from the spot on the stroke of half-time. Cavani then headed home Suarez’s cross nine minutes into the second half to wrap up victory.
Uruguay sit on top of the standings with 16 points, one clear of Brazil and Argentina with Colombia and Ecuador two points further adrift.
Neymar’s second-half strike earned Brazil a 2-1 victory over Colombia in Manaus.
Miranda gave the Selecao the perfect start with the opening goal after just 90 seconds but an own goal from Marquinhos got Colombia back into the game. Philippe Coutinho then set up Neymar to hit the winner after 74 minutes.
Argentina had to come from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw with Venezuela in Merida. Goals from Juanpi and Josef Martinez saw the hosts leading 2-0 eight minutes into the second half but Edgardo Bauza’s men battled back as Lucas Pratto gave La Albiceleste a lifeline in the 58th minute and Nicolas Otamendi levelled seven minutes from time.
Renato Tapia’s goal 12 minutes from time earned Peru a 2-1 win over Ecuador in Lima.
In Europe . . .
European champions Portugal suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Switzerland in their opening 2018 World Cup Group B qualifier. Breel Embolo headed the Swiss in front at St Jakob-Park on 22 minutes, before Admir Mehmedi fired in a second on the half-hour.
Fernando Santos’s side were missing Cristiano Ronaldo who has just returned to training with Real Madrid after limping out of the Euro 2016 final with a knee injury.
France were left frustrated following a goalless draw from their opening Group A match in Belarus. Les Bleus, beaten finalists as hosts of Euro 2016, had plenty of possession, but even Manchester United’s £89million man Paul Pogba could not find a way past the home defence.
In Group H, a brace from Everton forward Romelu Lukaku helped secure a 3-0 win in Cyprus for new Belgium manager Roberto Martinez.
Lukaku, who played for Martinez at Goodison Park, put the visitors in front on 14 minutes with a diving header and produced another close-range finish to nod in a second on the hour. Yannick Carrasco slotted in a third with nine minutes left, converting a pass from Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard.
Sweden started life after Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a 1-1 draw against Holland in their Group A match at the Friends Arena.
Holland had dominated large spells of the first half, but found themselves behind on 43 minutes when Marcus Berg chipped the ball over the goalkeeper from the edge of the penalty area.
The Dutch levelled on 67 minutes when captain Wesley Sneijder slotted in after Daryl Janmaat’s shot was saved – and thought they had won it in stoppage time with a header from substitute Bas Dost, which was ruled out for what looked minimal contact with the defender.
Elsewhere in Group A, Bulgaria snatched a dramatic 4-3 win over Luxembourg in Sofia, where there were two goals in stoppage time.
Florian Bohnert looked to have earned the minnows a shock draw after Aurelien Joachim had earlier scored twice.
Bulgaria went ahead through Dimitar Rangelov on 16 minutes, but found themselves fighting back with a goal from Marcelinho (66) and a free-kick by Ivelin Popov (80) before Bohnert’s late strike and then Aleksandar Tonev sparked wild celebrations from the home supporters.
Bosnia-Herzegovina set their Group H campaign off to a winning start with a comfortable 5-0 win over Estonia in Zenica.
Emir Spahic (7) headed the hosts in front, with Roma striker Edin Dzeko (22) adding a second from the penalty spot. Further goals from Haris Medunjanin (71), Vedad Ibisevic (83) and a second by Spahic in stoppage time completed the rout.
Gibraltar scored an historic first goal in a World Cup qualifier, but were well beaten 4-1 by Greece at Estadio Algarve.
Kostas Mitroglou (10) put Greece ahead, before Liam Walker, who once had a spell at English club Portsmouth, equalised in the 25th minute.
However, it was not long before the Greeks regained control, as Scunthorpe defender Scott Wiseman (43) put through his own net. Greece extended their lead with two more quick goals before half-time through Kostas Fortounis and Vassilis Torosidis.
In Tuesday night’s other Group B fixtures, Latvia won 1-0 in Andorra with a header from Valerijs Sabala at the start of the second half, while the Faroe Islands held Hungary goalless in Torshavn
Albania snatched a late 2-1 win over Macedonia as they resumed the Group G qualifier which was abandoned due to torrential rain in Shkoder on Monday.
As the teams played out the final quarter-of-an-hour, the scores level at 1-1, Bekim Balaj netted with just one minute left when he glanced in from a free-kick to secure all three points for the hosts.
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