Brazil, Messi's Argentina lead World Cup qualifying

Neymar is now second only to Pele among Brazil's all-time leading scorers. A hat-trick by Neymar on Tuesday gave Brazil a 4-2 win at Peru and the lead in South American World Cup qualifying. The 28-year-old striker now has 64 goals for Brazil, overtaking Ronaldo. He celebrated one of his goals by mimicking the former No 9' s celebration showing his index finger.

An apparently more mature Neymar scored twice from the spot in Lima and once in added time to lead Brazil, who twice rallied from behind. He's now 13 goals behind the great Pele's career tally. Hours earlier, Joaquin Correa scored the winner 11 minutes from time as Lionel Messi's Argentina topped Bolivia 2-1 four their first win in the altitude of La Paz since 2005 to maintain their 100% record after two matches.

Brazil and Argentina each have six points, but the Brazilians lead the standings with a superior goal difference after thrashing Bolivia 5-0 in the opening game in Sao Paulo last week. In other results Tuesday, Colombia were held to a 2-2 draw at Chile, Uruguay lost 4-2 at Ecuador and Paraguay beat Venezuela 1-0 away with a goal by Gaston Gimenez in the 85th minute.

The next qualifiers in South America will be in November. South America will have four direct berths in the 2022 World Cup. The fifth-best team can earn qualification through an intercontinental playoff. Peru started the match imposing their aggressive style and reaped the benefits in the sixth minute, with a right-foot volley by Andre Carrillo from the edge of the box. It was his third goal in South American qualifiers, following a brace in Peru's opening 2-2 draw at Paraguay.