Japan, Australia and South Korea enjoyed comfortable wins in Asian qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. Japan recorded a 3-0 win at Singapore to put it atop Group E; South Korea routed Myanmar, 4-0; and Australia beat Kyrgyzstan, 3-0, at home in Canberra. Only the eight group winners are certain to progress to the final round of qualification. The four best runners-up also advance.
u25a0 Torrential rain in Buenos Aires forced the South American World Cup qualifying game between Argentina and Brazil to be pushed back to Friday. In other qualifiers, Ecuador defeated Uruguay, 2-1, at home in Quito; Bolivia defeated Venezuela, 4-2, taking advantage of playing at home in La Paz where the altitude is about 11,975 feet; and Colombia played to a 1-1 draw against Chile at the Chilean capital, Santiago.