Paraguay held Uruguay to a goalless draw in their South American World Cup qualifier on Friday, with striker Luis Suarez bringing his 17-year international career to an end at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo.
The 37-year-old forward reached 143 appearances for his country, finishing as their all-time leading scorer with 69 goals.
Marcelo Bielsa's side, who finished third in the Copa America, played without five players from their starting line-up, including Darwin Nunez, who were suspended for their involvement in clashes with fans following the defeat to Colombia in the continental showpiece in July.
Uruguay wasted several chances, most notably a first-half right-footed volley from Suarez that struck the post after Facundo Pellistri's cross.
Paraguay also created clear-cut opportunities, with Miguel Almiron coming closest only to be denied by goalkeeper Sergio Rochet, but neither side managed to capitalise.
Uruguay remain second in the World Cup qualifying standings on 14 points, four behind leaders Argentina. They face Venezuela on Tuesday, while Paraguay take on Brazil.
Brazil return to winning ways with dreary win over Ecuador
Brazil got back to winning ways in the South American World Cup qualifiers with a drab 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Friday thanks to first-half goal by Real Madrid forward Rodrygo.
After its first streak of losses in three successive qualifiers, Brazil did just enough to earn the win that lifted the struggling five-time World Cup champions to fourth in the standings with 10 points.
They are eight points behind leaders Argentina and only two points over Ecuador in sixth, the last spot guaranteed a berth at the 2026 finals.
Playing their first match after a disappointing Copa America defeat to Uruguay in the quarter-final, Brazil had another lacklustre performance, dominating possession but failing to create clear chances throughout the match.
Brazil misplaced too many passes and struggled to connect up front, out of ideas on how to beat Ecuador’s rock solid defensive block.
Ecuador were relentless while applying a physically aggressive pressure high with three hardworking forwards, making the locals uncomfortable when putting the ball in play. They Brazil almost no room to get inside their box either, forcing them to roam the ball horizontally around their penalty area and resort to strikes from long range.
Brazil's only two shots on target on the first half were made by Rodrygo, who, after stinging the goalkeeper's hands from a free kick early, were lucky to break the deadlock in the 29th minute. His effort fired from the edge of the box deflected off a defender and arched around the wrong-footed goalkeeper before hitting the right post and finding the back of the net.
Ecuador almost levelled in a counterattack right before the break, but defender Gabriel Magalhaes denied Moises Caicedo's effort with a last-minute goal-line clearance.
Brazil came back even worse in the second half, with an uninspired Vinicius Jr creating their only shot on target in an absolutely morose 45 minutes, with boos greeting the final whistle.
"We needed this win, doesn't matter if it was ugly or not. I'm happy with the victory and to have scored, and I hope it helps us getting better and progressing to the level that we want to reach moving forward," Rodrygo told Brazilian TV Globo.
Brazil will face Paraguay at Asuncion on Tuesday while Ecuador is set to host Peru in Quito on Monday.
Italy come from behind to stun France in 3-1 win
Italy went behind after 12 seconds but came back to beat France 3-1 in a highly-entertaining Nations League A Group 2 opening game on Friday.
Bradley Barcola found the net in the opening minute when he caught Giovanni Di Lorenzo napping and raced into the area before curling his shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Italy levelled after half an hour with Federico Dimarco volleying home a deft back-heel flicked pass from Sandro Tonali, and the sides went in level at the break after a pulsating opening half.
Five minutes after the interval and France were rocked again with Davide Frattesi putting Italy ahead, and Giacomo Raspadori gave the visitors the breathing space they needed in the 74th minute to silence the Parc des Prince crowd.
Both sides came into the game looking for redemption after failing to impress at Euro 2024, but it was Italy who earned the much-needed victory.
It was a terrible start for the visitors with Di Lorenzo taking far too long over a back-pass and Barcola pounced to score his first international goal.
A frantic start to the game gave Italy the chance to level five minutes later but Frattesi hammered a close range header off the crossbar.
Donnarumma pulled off saves from Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise, making his debut, before Italy found the equaliser, with Tonali's assist just as impressive as the strike which found the net.
Tonali, back in the side after serving a 10-month ban for breaching betting rules, played a beautiful one-two with Dimarco who continued his run into the box and struck a sweet left-footed volley beyond the reach of Maignan.
"Magnificent game. We were afraid that he (Tonali) wouldn't make it to play 90 minutes, but in the end he gave two good bursts. We found a very strong player again," Italy manager Luciano Spalletti told RAI.
Italy came out of the blocks quickest in the second half and Retegui's perfect ball across the goal found Frattesi sliding in and his shot beat Maignan at his near post and minutes later Maignan got down to save Frattesi's header from a corner kick.
They found the all-important third goal with two second half substitutes combining. Destiny Udogie passed to Raspadori running into the box and he went round William Saliba to fire past the oncoming Maignan.
France piled on the pressure looking for a way back but Italy held firm to take all three points.
In Thursday's other group game, Belgium beat Israel 3-1, and in the next round of games on Monday France will host Belgium, with Italy away to Israel in Budapest.
De Bruyne’s double shows renewed commitment to Belgium cause
Kevin De Bruyne netted twice to lead Belgium to a 3-1 win over Israel in their opening Nations League clash on Friday, played behind closed doors in neutral Hungary because of security concerns.
Belgium’s captain put his side ahead after 21 minutes but Israel equalised nine minutes before the break despite spending most of the half defending at Debrecen’s Nagyerdei Stadion.
Youri Tielemans restored Belgium's lead directly after halftime and De Bruyne tucked away a penalty soon after to extend their advantage.
Belgium could afford to waste another penalty as they went top of League A Group 2 alongside with Italy, who beat France 3-1 in Paris in Friday’s other group game.
De Bruyne’s double came one day after he had emphasised his commitment to the Belgian side, ending months of speculation over his future with the national team.
The 33-year-old had complained about the prospect of playing too many matches and left his future with Belgium uncertain after the European Championship in mid-year.
But there was no doubting his appetite as he led the early attacks and ghosted in unmarked to get onto the end of Jeremy Doku’s cross from the left for the opening goal.
Israel, however, were level in the 36th minute when Anan Khalaili’s header took a wicked deflection off Timothy Castagne.
De Bruyne had lost possession, leading to a rare Israeli attack with Idan Nachmlas whipping in a cross that Khalaili met in the box and then went flying in off the Belgian fullback.
Initially it was awarded to the Israeli forward, who plays his club football in Belgium, but later changed by UEFA to an own goal.
Belgium wasted no time restoring their superiority after halftime as Wout Faes’ cross was cleverly flicked back by Lois Openda into the path of Tielemans, who cracked home a strong shot from close range in the 48th minute
Four minutes later, De Bruyne tucked away a spot kick when Openda was brought down by Raz Schlomo.
But he was not tempted to go for a hat-trick when Israel gave away another penalty four minutes thereafter, with Openda again upended in a clumsy clip from behind by Sagiv Jehezkel.
Instead, De Bruyne allowed Openda to take it and a tame shot was saved by Yoav Gerafi.
Friday’s match had been moved to Hungary when the Belgian football association were unable to find a municipality in their country willing to host game because of security fears.
The Israel-Gaza conflict has also forced Israeli teams to move their home fixtures abroad.
Israel will host Italy in their next Nations League game in Budapest on Monday while Belgium meet France in Lyon at the same time.
