ARGENTINA, URUGUAY AND Colombia booked their place at next year’s World Cup finals on Tuesday in a thrilling final round of qualifiers that saw South American champions Chile eliminated.
Argentina advanced after a Lionel Messi hat-trick secured a 3-1 win in Ecuador.
Uruguay meanwhile sealed their place in Russia with a 4-2 home win over already-eliminated Bolivia.
Colombia qualified after a battling 1-1 draw with Peru in Lima.
Peru’s draw was good enough to give them a playoff berth which will see them take on New Zealand over two legs for a place in the finals.
But the combination of results spelt the end of the road for Chile, who were beaten 3-0 by Brazil and knocked out.
Results on Tuesday from final round of games in South America’s 2018 World Cup qualifying competition:
Brazil 3 (Paulinho 55, Jesus 57, 90+2) Chile 0
Ecuador 1 (Ibarra 1) Argentina 3 (Messi 12, 20, 62)
Paraguay 0 Venezuela 1 (Herrera 84)
Peru 1 (Guerrero 74) Colombia 1 (Rodriguez 56)
Uruguay 4 (Caceres 39, Cavani 42, Suarez 60, 76) Bolivia 2 (Silva 24-og, Godin 79-og)
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