Lionel Messi, Vinicius Junior fail to inspire teams

Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Vinicius Junior had frustrating nights in South American World Cup qualifying. While Messi could not help his team avoid a 2-1 defeat at Paraguay, Vinicius Junior missed a second-half penalty as Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw at Venezuela.

Argentina will remain on the top of the 10-team round robin competition with a 22 points in 11 matches. Brazil are provisionally in third place in the standings with 17 points. Also on Thursday, Ecuador beat Bolivia 4-0. The Ecuadorians remain in fifth position with 16 points, while Bolivia are in eighth place with 12 points.

France draw with Israel

Paris: France and Italy qualified for the quarterfinal stage of the revamped Nations League as England got their revenge on Greece ahead of the imminent arrival of Thomas Tuchel as coach.

France drew 0-0 with Israel in a match requiring a high-security operation in and around Paris on Thursday, a week after violence erupted in Amsterdam in connection with Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv’s visit for a Europa League match.

Around 150 Israel supporters were among a crowd of 16,611 inside the 80,000-capacity Stade de France and there was a brief scuffle between some fans at one point in the first half.

The draw was enough to secure France a top-two finish in their group along with Italy, who beat Belgium 1-0 away thanks to Sandro Tonali’s 11th-minute goal. They advance to the quarterfinals in March, from which the lineup of the Final Four mini-tournament in June will be determined. Germany and Spain were the first two nations to qualify for the quarterfinals.