RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 8: South American outsiders Ecuador qualified for their first World Cup and took Paraguay with them on Wednesday but four-times champions Brazil are still waiting to claim their place after losing 3-1 in Bolivia.

Ecuador, more famous for its smouldering volcanoes and the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands than its exploits on the soccer field, made history by drawing 1-1 at home to Uruguay in Quito.

Uruguay’s two dropped points also guaranteed Paraguay a place in Japan and South Korea without kicking a ball and allowed Colombia to cling grimly to their outside chances by beating Chile 3-1 in Bogota.

Brazil could have joined Ecuador and Paraguay on Wednesday by winning in La Paz but, despite taking a first half lead, crashed to a 3-1 defeat in a stadium which has become a graveyard for their goalkeepers.

They will now have to beat Venezuela at home in their last game next Wednesday to make sure of maintaining their record as the only nation to have played at every World Cup.

If Brazil fail to win and Uruguay beat Argentina, then the Brazilians will play-off against Australia.

Wednesday’s games left Argentina top of the South American group with 39 points, followed by Paraguay and Ecuador (30), Brazil (27), Uruguay (26), Colombia (24), Bolivia (17), Peru (15), Venezuela (13) and Chile (11).

The top four teams qualify directly and the fifth plays-off against Oceania regions Australia.

Argentina play Peru while Paraguay face Venezuela on Thursday before next week’s matches bring the contest to a close.

Ecuador needed only a point to qualify but, amid huge expectations, made a nervous start and were given a fright when Nicolas Olivera fired Uruguay in front from a controversial penalty.

Ecuador only settled after veteran midfielder Alex Aguinaga, still struggling with a knee injury, came on in the second half and set up the equaliser for Ivan Kaviedes.

The win set up wild celebrations in the Andean nation, where qualification has provided some temporary relief from the country’s economic woes.

The hero of the campaign was Colombian coach Hernan Dario Gomez, who was persuaded to stay on in the job despite being attacked and shot in the leg earlier this year.

“This is for the Ecuadoreans,” said the emotional coach.

Paraguay’s celebrations were cut short by the news that goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert had been given a four-match international ban for an incident which happened nearly three months ago.

Chilavert, whose suspension includes the first two games at the World Cup, was banned by FIFA on Wednesday for spitting at Brazil’s Roberto Carlos after the game in Porto Alegre on August 15. There were no celebrations at all in Brazil after their sixth defeat of the competition. The latest failure came against a Bolivian team which lost their previous two games by 5-1 scorelines.

But two minutes before the break, central defender Juan slipped and lost the ball to Lider Paz, who fired the equaliser beyond Marcos.

Bolivia took control as Brazil ran out of gas in the second half. In the 70th minute, goalkeeper Marcos misjudged the flight of a long-floated kick by Julio Cesar Baldivieso and the ball flew over his head into the goal.

Baldivieso added the third from a controversially awarded penalty two minutes from time to give Carlos Trucco, who was in goal when Bolivia beat Brazil in a qualifier eight years ago, a winning start as Bolivia’s third coach of the campaign.

Bolivia 3 Brazil 1

Colombia 3 Chile 1

Ecuador 1 Uruguay 1

—Reuters