Brazil have an eight-point lead at the top of the South American standings as far as the qualifiers for next year’s FIFA World Cup tournament are concerned. The five-time world champions were able to extend their advantage at the summit to eight points thanks to the comeback victory over home team Venezuela.
Venezuela stunned the Brazilians with the first goal of the match on 11 minutes through Eric Ramirez and Brazil left it late to show their quality before winning the game. Brazil scored three times in the final quarter of the game to beat the Venezuelans 3-1 away from home.
Marquinhos, Gabriel Barbosa (penalty) and Antony were all on target in the final twenty (20) minutes to win the game for Brazil and maintain their unblemished record in the World Cup qualifiers.Paris Saint Germain (PSG) utility player was the recipient of the firstBrazilian goalon 71 minutes. Barbosa scored the second of the three Brazilian from the penalty spot with five minutes left before Ajax Amsterdam attacker Antony made sure of the points with the third Brazilian goal in stoppage time.
Brazil are gradually closing in on a place at Qatar buoyed by their latest win in the qualifiers. The victory over Venezuela preserved their perfect campaign as far as the Qatar 2022 qualifiers are concerned. The Brazilians have a maximum of 27 points from nine games played in the qualifiers and their lead increased from six points to eight points after rivals and nearest challengers Argentina had to settle for a goalless draw in the latest set of qualifiers from the South American region.
Two-time world champions Argentina have a total of 18 points from their World Cup qualifying campaign till date, while Brazil are on 27 points and are some wins from sealing their place in Qatar at the end of next year. On their part, Argentina still have a lot of work to do to move closer to a place at Qatar.