The South American giants eased past Paraguay 3-0 in their qualifying match tonight and combined with defeats for Argentina and Uruguay, it sealed their berth alongside hosts Russia, who are given an automatic spot.

All 10 South American Football Confederation countries contest one qualifying group with Brazil - the five-time World Cup winners - now boasting 33 points at the top after 14 games.

They now cannot finish any lower than fourth, which is the lowest automatic qualification place.

The country which finishes fifth will be given another chance to qualify through a play-off against an Oceania Football Confederation side.

Four rounds of matches are still left to be played in the group.

Brazil, who hosted the last World Cup in 2014, have ensured their record of appearing at every edition of the flagship tournament will continue.

They are the only nation who have appeared at every tournament.

The Olympic champions opened the scoring against Paraguay when Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho netted after 34 minutes at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo.

Barcelona striker Neymar, the Olympic hero on home soil at Rio 2016 in August, doubled the advantage in the second half before Real Madrid's Marcelo added extra gloss to the scoreline.

Thirty other teams will earn a spot at Russia 2018 with qualifiers in progress across the world.