Sao Paulo: Brazil beat Colombia 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier here on Thursday to become the first South American team to make it to Qatar 2022.Lucas Paqueta got the vital goal 72 minutes into the match with a shot that Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina got a hand to but could not stop. Following the result, Brazil tops the 10-team South American group with 34 points from 12 matches. The top-four nations qualify automatically for the Qatar World Cup next year and the fifth-placed side goes into an inter-regional play-off.
The match was a feisty one with neither side imposing themselves, producing as many as 44 fouls and seven yellow cards.
It took a moment of magic from Paqueta to decide the game, when he received a pass from Neymar and fired home from just inside the box.
The result put Brazil, which has won 11 of its 12 matches so far, in an unassailable position.