Brazil, Argentina score convincing wins in World Cup qualifiers

Brazil registered their sixth win in six matches in the World Cup qualifiers after beating Peru 2-0 last night. Gabriel and Augusto’s goals helped Brazil steer four points clear at the top of South America’s qualification standings.

Argentina's Lionel Messi shoots to score a goal against Columbia on Tuesday. Enrique Marcarian/REUTERS

The Brazilians now have 27 points from 12 games and are almost certain of securing one of the four automatic spots for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In other matches, Argentina won 3-0 against Columbia in San Juan. Lionel Messi performed brilliantly, scoring a superb free kick and setting up two more goals.

The win puts Argentina in fifth place with six games remaining.

The most shocking result of the night was the 4-0 routing of the United States by Costa Rica in San Jose in the Confederation of Central American Associations of Football (Concacaf) region's round of World Cup qualifiers.

Joel Campbell scored twice in three minutes in the second half to make a forgettable night for the visitors. This was the second straight defeat for the US following their 2-1 loss to Mexico last week.

Klinsmann position under threat

The loss puts a question mark over the future of Juergen Klinsmann as team manager. The former German captain said this defeat has been the most hurtful during his five years in charge of the US team.

“It’s a bitter moment for us. There’s no doubt about it,” Klinsmann said.

“We didn't imagine we’d start the Hexagonal with two defeats right at the beginning. We knew it was going to be difficult playing Mexico and Costa Rica in the first two games. But obviously you want to have some points.

“This is definitely a moment to reflect on what happened in the last 10 days. I said to the players it won't be the only 4-0 defeat in their career. But hopefully they'll take some lessons from this. Definitely it's bitter because we wanted to do far better than we did.".