Lionel Messi scored his 50th international goal to help Argentina beat Bolivia 2-0 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
The win put Argentina third in the South American group with 11 points from six matches, two points behind joint leaders Ecuador and Uruguay.
Ecuador suffered their first loss in the group, going down 3-1 in Colombia, while Uruguay scored a 1-0 home win over Peru.
Argentina defender Gabriel Mercado, who scored the winner in Thursday’s 2-1 away victory over Chile, opened the scoring in the 21st minute against Bolivia.
Argentina were awarded a penalty in the 29th minute after Ronald Eguino fouled midfielder Ever Banega, and Messi made no mistake from the spot to net his 50th goal for Argentina, putting him within six of Gabriel Batistuta’s record.
“It was fundamental to get the six points,” Argentina coach Gerardo Martino told TyC Sports of the two wins. “I think we played a serious match and won well.”
Argentina could have gone ahead after 10 seconds with a quick attack down the left from the opening kickoff but Angel Di Maria’s shot was blocked by goalkeeper Carlos Lampe and Banega hit the bar with the rebound.
Di Maria limped off after half an hour and was replaced by Angel Correa.
Argentina squandered several other chances to score against a side they put 12 goals past in two friendlies last year.
Brazil manage 2-2 draw against Paraguay
Brazil rallied for a 2-2 draw at Paraguay with late goals from Ricardo Oliveira and Dani Alves in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
Oliveira scored in the 79th minute and Alves notched the equalizer 90 seconds into injury time to save Brazil from an embarrassing loss.
Dario Lezcano gave Paraguay a deserved 1-0 lead in the 40th, driving a 10-meter (yard) shot over the head of Brazil keeper Alisson.
Edgar Benitez made it 2-0 in the 49th on a perfectly slotted shot after Paraguay sliced up Brazil's porous defense to get into scoring position.
Brazil played without star striker Neymar and top defender David Luiz, both out with accumulated yellow cards.
Paraguay defeated Brazil the last time they played, winning 4-3 on penalties in the quarterfinals of last year's Copa America.
Brazil have just nine points from six matches, sitting in sixth position on the table, level with Paraguay on points.
In other South American qualifiers on Tuesday, Uruguay defeated Peru 1-0 to move level with Ecuador, losers at Colombia 3-1, at the top of the table with 13 points, and Chile got a 4-1 win at Venezuela.
US back on track in qualifying with 4-0 win over Guatemala
American soccer fans fretted for four days: If the United States lost to Guatemala once again, the U.S. would have little chance to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Their worries quickly vanished Tuesday night.
Clint Dempsey scored 12 minutes in, Geoff Cameron, Graham Zusi and Jozy Altidore added goals and the U.S. routed Guatemala 4-0 to get back on track.
"I thought we showed a lot of heart," Dempsey said. "We showed a lot of character by dealing with a pressure situation."
Following a dismal 2-0 loss at Guatemala City on Friday night in which Jurgen Klinsmann deployed several players out of their most comfortable positions, the US coach made five lineup changes and shifted two others into their more usual spots. The Americans responded and improved to 27-0-2 at home in qualifying since 2001, including 7-0-2 at Mapfre Stadium.
Elsewhere, Trinidad and Tobago (3-0-1) won 6-0 at home against St. Vincent and the Grenadines and leads Group C with 10 points, three ahead of the US (2-1-1). Guatemala (2-2) has six points, and St. Vincent (0-4) has been eliminated.
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