Victorious in only one of their eight previous 2026 WCQ encounters and second-last in the standings prior to kick-off, Chile needed less than two minutes to stun Brazil as Eduardo Vargas headed Felipe Loyola’s delightful delivery into the net past Ederson.
Dario Osorio maintained Chile’s control in the early stages of the contest, firing inches wide of the mark not long after as the five-time World Cup winners failed to initially respond.
In the absence of the injured Vinicius Junior, who joined long-term absentee Neymar on the sidelines, Brazil were unable to lay a glove on Brayan Cortes’s goal for the majority of the first half.
However, against the run of play, Dorival Junior’s side equalised in injury time, with Savinho putting it on a plate for debutant Igor Jesus to expertly head home.
Brazil are the only nation to have played at every single World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1930 but are by no means guaranteed to make it to the next edition after picking up just 10 points from their opening eight matches of this qualification cycle.
In an attempt to rejuvenate his side, Junior introduced Bruno Guimarães and Gerson at the break. Nevertheless, it was one of the starting XI, Raphinha, who thought he had given his side the advantage as he confidently slotted his one-on-one effort past Cortes only to be denied by the offside flag.
Ultimately, there was late drama as another of Junior’s substitutions, Henrique, buried a sublime curling effort into the far corner of the net at the death.
This could prove to be a pivotal result in Brazil’s qualification campaign, and they rise up to fourth as a result - they have a chance to consolidate their place in the standings when they host last-place Peru on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, another disappointing WCQ result leaves Chile six points adrift of the inter-confederation play-off position, and under-pressure manager Ricardo Gareca must now prepare his side for a challenging trip to second-placed Colombia on Tuesday.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Igor Jesus (Brazil)