Brazil thrash Bolivia 5-1 as Neymar surpasses Pele
Brazil lived up to expectations by smashing Bolivia 5-1 at home in their 2026 World Cup qualifiers opener on Friday, with Neymar surpassing the late great Pele as the country's top scorer.
The 31-year-old Neymar, who recently joined Saudi side Al-Hilal, bounced back after missing a penalty in the first half, scoring two goals in the 61st and 93rd minutes to become the country's all-time top scorer with 79 goals.
"Congratulations Neymar for surpassing the King in goals for Brazil. Surely Pele is applauding you today!" said Pele's official account on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Real Madrid's Rodrygo also shone with a double, opening the scoring in the 24th minute and bagging his second in the 52nd off a great through ball from Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes for 3-0.
"It really is a very special day...Neymar is my idol, being able to help him become the top scorer will stay with me forever," the 22-year-old Rodrygo told Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo.
Raphinha, who replaced Antony in the Brazilian squad, scored to make it 2-0 in the opening seconds of the second half with a shot at the far post after picking up Neymar's pass in the edge of the box.
Bolivia got their consolation goal through Victor Abrego's powerful shot in the 78th minute.
Brazil will look to continue their good form when they visit Peru on Tuesday in the second round of CONMEBOL qualifiers.
Elsewhere, Uruguay started their qualifying campaign on the right foot by beating Chile 3-1 at home to hand former Leeds United coach Marcelo Bielsa his first official win at the helm.
Fernandes earns Portugal win over Slovakia
Portugal's Bruno Fernandes scored in the first half to earn a 1-0 away win over Slovakia in their Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday as they moved five points clear of their opponents atop Group J and maintained their perfect record after five games.
Fernandes' low strike two minutes from halftime beat Martin Dubravka inside his far post as the midfielder marked his 29th birthday with his third goal in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Portugal had made a faltering start against Slovakia, who had two good chances inside the opening 15 minutes through forward Robert Polievka and winger Lukas Haraslin.
Haraslin was once more inches away from opening the scoring as the game neared the end of first half when his curled shot from the edge of the box narrowly missed the right post.
But after Fernandes gave Portugal the lead coach Roberto Martinez's side looked more like their usual selves in the second half, dominating possession and looking to extend their lead while Slovakia did well to keep the deficit to one goal.
Portugal, who host Luxembourg on Monday, have 15 points followed by Slovakia, who have 10 along with third-placed Luxembourg after they beat Iceland 3-1. Slovakia are bidding to qualify for their third consecutive European finals.
The two teams meet again on October 13 in Porto.
Morata scores hat-trick as Spain hammer Georgia
Spain thrashed hosts Georgia 7-1 in their Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday, with forward Alvaro Morata scoring a hat-trick and Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal becoming the youngest-ever Spain international and goalscorer.
Spain bounced back from a 2-0 loss away to Scotland with a performance Spanish football needed after the furore sparked by football federation boss Luis Rubiales' unsolicited kiss of player Jenni Hermoso after her team's Women's World Cup triumph.
The 2023 UEFA Nations League champions started well and almost scored in the first minute with Marco Asensio, Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand missing golden chances from close-range.
But Morata broke the deadlock with a header in the 22nd minute and Spain took a two-goal lead five minutes later when Georgia defender Solomon Kvirkvelia scored an own-goal trying to clear Fabian Ruiz's low cross inside the six-yard-box.
A minute later Ruiz had a goal ruled out by VAR for a fractional offside but Olmo and Morata extended the visitors' advantage further with tidy finishes before the break.
After heavy rain fell at the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena at the interval, Georgia got on the scoresheet in the 49th minute through halftime substitute Giorgi Chakvetadze following a blunder by goalkeeper Unai Simon.
However, Morata and substitute Nico Williams soon added to the visitors' lead with two strikes within two minutes.
In the 74th, Yamal, who had already become his country's youngest international aged 16 years and 57 days after coming on just before halftime, scored their seventh goal to break the record as Spain's youngest-ever goalscorer.
Yamal, who in August became Barcelona's youngest debutant in an official match, broke the previous record of club team mate Gavi, who was 17 years 62 days when he made his debut in 2021.
Gavi broke the record of Athletic Bilbao's Angel Zubieta (17 years 284 days), which had stood for nearly 85 years.
"I am very happy for my debut and for the goal. It's a dream come true," Yamal told TVE. "I'm living a dream, I'm delighted and I thank the players and coach for the confidence they have given me and everyone who has helped me along the way."
Spain are second in Group A on six points after three matches and stand six points behind Scotland, who were playing their fifth match away to bottom side Cyprus later on Friday.
The Spaniards next host Cyprus in Granada on Tuesday.
