The Newcastle man has been one of the stars of the tournament so far and set up Braian Samudio for the opener with a wicked corner in the 33rd minute, which the Toluca forward headed beyond former Barcelona and Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.

And 13 minutes into the second half, when Carlos González was fouled, man of the match Almirón stepped up to send Bravo the wrong way from the penalty spot for his third international goal - dedicating this one to his son Francesco, who was born earlier this month. He came off in the 77th minute.

The win means that with one round of group games still to play, Paraguay have already qualified from Group A along with Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.

La Albirroja's final group fixture is on Tuesday, against Uruguay at Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos in Rio de Janeiro.