Bolivia 1-0 Brazil: Terceros penalty hands Ancelotti first defeat
Brazil ended their worst ever World Cup qualifying campaign with defeat to Bolivia, but still finished in fifth in the South American table.
Bolivia kept their hopes of reaching their first World Cup since 1994 alive after they stunned Brazil 1-0 to hand Carlo Ancelotti his first defeat since taking over the Selecao.
Miguel Terceros' penalty in first-half stoppage time did the damage at Estadio Municipal El Alto, ensuring Bolivia secured seventh place, and a spot in the intercontinental play-offs.
With little to play for other than pride, Brazil struggled to maintain any kind of rhythm, almost finding themselves behind when Luis Haquin's cross narrowly evaded Enzo Monteiro.
Bolivia continued to threaten with Terceros' curling strike fizzing past Alisson Becker's post, but the hosts got their noses in front after being awarded a spot-kick late in the first half.
After losing possession cheaply, Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes attempted to atone for his error, but instead brought down Roberto Fernandez inside the area.
Terceros stepped up and squeezed the ball into the bottom-left corner, and he almost doubled his team's tally in the 71st minute, only to see his shot parried by Alisson.
The Liverpool goalkeeper was on hand to deny Bolivia their second two minutes from time, producing an unbelievable stop to repel Carmelo Algaranaz's glancing header off the line.
Elsewhere, Colombia secured third place in the qualifying table after emerging victorious in a nine-goal thriller with Venezuela, with Luis Suarez scoring four goals in the 6-3 win.
Indeed, Suarez became the first player to net four times in a South American qualifying match since Uruguay's Luis Suarez did so against Chile back in November 2011.
Data Debrief: Plenty to ponder for Ancelotti
After replacing Dorival Junior in May, Ancelotti started his tenure with Brazil with two victories and a draw, sealing their qualification to the World Cup. However, their performance here left a lot to be desired.
Indeed, Brazil managed an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.36 from their 10 shots, only three of which were on target, compared to Bolivia's 1.78 from their 23 attempts.
And while Ancelotti only took charge of the Selecao's final four games of qualifying, Brazil endured their campaign in their history in the South American qualifiers (52% success rate). However, their second worst (56% in 2002) ended with their last World Cup title.
Colombia and Venezuela, meanwhile, played out the joint-highest-scoring game in the history of South American qualifying, tied with three other matches that took place at least 60 years ago (Chile 7-2 Colombia in 1965, Peru 6-3 Venezuela in 1965, and Argentina 6-3 Ecuador in 1960).
