All three South American teams with Chelsea representation – Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador – are already assured of their place at next summer’s World Cup as qualifying wraps up on the continent with the final two fixtures during this international break. However, while Argentina have secured top spot in the table, it remains a close fight for second.

Brazil took the advantage in the early hours of Friday with a big home win over Chile in a game they dominated throughout. Joao Pedro and Estevao were both named in Carlo Ancelotti’s starting line-up, with Andrey Santos joining them from the bench in the second half.

After a disallowed goal for Casemiro, it was Estevao who scored first shortly before the break, opening his account with his first international goal, acrobatically firing in an overhead kick after Raphinha’s initial effort was blocked. At 18 years of age, it makes the Blues winger the youngest player to score for Brazil in a competitive fixture since Pele in 1958.

‘I've always dreamed of scoring my first goal for the national team at the Maracana, since I was a child,’ said Estevao after the game. ‘I dedicate it to my family who are in London. We always come here and try our best to bring joy to the fans.’

The game remained balanced with Brazil’s narrow lead for some time, before two goals in four minutes from Lucas Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes made the final score a more comfortable 3-0.

Elsewhere, with their qualification already guaranteed, Ecuador rested Moises Caicedo for their visit to Paraguay, although Kendry Paez – on loan at Strasbourg for this season – started the game.

Despite dominating possession, Ecuador struggled to make chances and eventually had to settle for a 0-0 draw. That allowed Brazil to move two points ahead in the table going into the final round of games on Wednesday night, when Ecuador host Argentina and Brazil travel to Bolivia.

In Europe, Spain travelled to Bulgaria to open their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 victory of their own. It was a good night for Cucurella as he featured at left-back for the full 90 minutes.

He also netted his first international goal for Spain’s second, after Mikel Oyarzabal had opened the scoring. When Lamine Yamal’s cross from the right was only half cleared by Bulgaria, Cucurella pounced, firing a powerful strike back across goal and into the net to open his account for La Roja.

Mikel Merino then added a third for Spain to make it a comfortable start to qualifying. They are away again in their next game, when they travel to Turkiye on Sunday.

There was another 3-0 victory at youth level in the Elite League, as Portugal Under-20s defeated Czechia. Leo Cardoso was in the starting line-up for the Portuguese and played the first half, but was withdrawn during the break before the floodgates opened, with all three goals coming in the second period.

Elsewhere, Ibraham Rabbaj was an unused substitute as Morocco Under-17s defeated Canada 3-0 in a friendly series in Spain.