Sergio Aguero, Edinson Cavani, Radamel Falcao and Alexis Sanchez all scored goals for their countries in South American World Cup qualifiers last night.

Argentina remain top of the South American standings, after their hard-fought 1-1 draw in Ecuador.

Aguero had given Argentina the lead early on from the penalty spot, but Ecuador drew level through Segundo Castillo in the 16th minute.

Argentina finished the game with 10 men, after Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano was bizarrely sent off for kicking the driver of the medical buggy.

Superstar Lionel Messi came on for Aguero with 20 minutes to go, but was unable to influence the result.

While Argentina continue to lead the log and look certain to qualify for the World Cup, Messi was disappointed with their failure to beat Ecuador.

"We had what it takes to win the game, but we are getting used to draws," Messi told Argentina's Channel 7.

"We failed to take profit from free space in the first half, but we are close to the qualification. That is what matters.

"We scored the first goal very quickly. To play here is very tough. Then they equalised."

In the night’s other matches, Uruguay secured a much-needed 1-0 win over Venezuela, thanks to Cavani’s goal.

Goals from Falcao and Teofilo Gutierrez  gave Colombia a 2-0 win over Peru to put them in second place on the log.

Sanchez scored his first goal of Chile’s World Cup qualifying campaign, helping them to a 3-1 win over Bolivia.

Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Chile look set to qualify for Brazil, with Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru slugging it out for the final position.