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Everton Ribeiro came off the bench and scored the winning goal in the 64th minute as Brazil made it seven wins from seven games on the road to Qatar 2022.

Brazil – back in action for the first time since its Copa America final loss to La Albiceleste in July – is six points clear of Argentina atop the standings ahead of Monday's (AEST) mouth-watering showdown in Sao Paulo.

Chile, meanwhile, is seventh in the 10-team qualifying section in South America, three points adrift of the play-off position.

A refusal by Premier League clubs to release players for international matches in COVID-19 red-listed countries meant Brazil was without the likes of captain Thiago Silva, Alisson, Ederson, Fred, Fabinho, Roberto Firmino, Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus.

Weverton started for Brazil in the absence of stars Alisson and Ederson and he was the busier of the keepers in Santiago, where the two nations met for the first time since the Selecao beat Chile at the Copa.

Arturo Vidal was in the thick of the action for Chile amid a strong start to the season with Inter – the star midfielder forcing a double-save from Weverton with a tricky free-kick on the half-hour mark and the latter reacted quickly to deny Eduardo Vargas's close-round rebound.

Gabriel 'Gabigol' Barbosa had earlier shown a great burst of pace to surge clear on the counter-attack, sliding the ball to an unmarked Neymar but the Paris Saint-Germain forward sent his shot high into the stands.

Vidal then forced Weverton into another save before half-time, though clear-cut chances were few and far between after 45 minutes.

The game came to life in the second half when Brazil broke the deadlock against the run of play in the 64th minute.

Chile had largely controlled proceedings, but Ribeiro and Neymar combined just past the hour mark – the latter's close-range attempt kept out by Claudio Bravo but the former was on hand to convert the rebound.

Chile continued to move forward in search of an equaliser but it was unsuccessful as Brazil kept its fifth consecutive clean sheet in qualifying and sixth in total.