In the day's other fixture, underdogs Venezuela snatched a dramatic 2-1 home win over Bolivia thanks to last-gasp goals by Jose Manuel Rey and Juan Arango at Maracaibo.

Paredes, who plays for Italian Serie A side Reggina, scored in the 31st minute to put Paraguay top of the South American zone standings, at least until Brazil and Argentina play on Wednesday.

Paraguay, attempting to reach their third successive World Cup finals with a squad based largely on the players who qualified in 1998 and 2002, have nine points from four games.

They are two points ahead of Brazil and Argentina, who play their fourth games on Wednesday, at home to Uruguay and away to Colombia respectively. Chile, who missed out in 2002, have four points from four games and are seventh in the standings.

Paraguay's goal came from one of their typical aerial attacks with right-back Francisco Arce almost inevitably the instigator.

Arce floated one of his trademark crosses into the penalty area, Jose Cardozo headed down at the far post and Paredes scored with a first-time shot from the edge of the box which took a deflection off Chile's Rafael Olarra.

Paraguay packed their defence for the second half and, despite ample possession, hosts Chile lacked the inspiration to find a way through.

They won a number of free kicks in good positions but most were struck straight into the wall by David Pizarro.

Striker Mauricio Pinilla had Chile's best chances. In the first minute, he burst into the Paraguay area but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Justo Villar.

Pinilla also shaved the crossbar with a header in the first half and the post after he again outjumped the defence in the 61st minute.

The game was marred by an ugly flare-up in the second half but lenient Uruguayan referee Gustavo Mendez did not show a yellow card.

Venezuela were 1-0 down in a scrappy game when defender Rey equalised from a free-kick in the 90th minute. Then, two minutes into injury time, midfielder Arango clinched victory with a low, left-foot shot that rebounded off the post into the net.

The late goals brought the 30,000 home crowd to its feet in the western oil city of Maracaibo.

Local fans attributed the victory to the Virgin of Chiquinquira, Maracaibo's Catholic patroness whose religious feast day was observed on Tuesday.

Venezuela, the only South American nation never to have played in the World Cup finals, also recorded a 1-0 win in last Saturday's qualifying match in Colombia.

Jubilant coach Richard Paez told reporters: "We won (on Tuesday) because we played with conviction ... and we tried not to lose our heads. The frightened Venezuelan side is a thing of the past."

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez also celebrated the victory. He said in a speech that he had recently told Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "we'll beat Brazil one day".

The result was a shock for Bolivia, still reeling from their 3-0 defeat by Argentina three days ago.

Joaquin Botero put Bolivia ahead with an opportunist goal 15 minutes into the second half.

Botero scooped the ball into the corner of the net after a header from Venezuela defender Alejandro Cichero rebounded off another player to the feet of the Bolivia striker.

In the 84th minute, Ecuadorean referee Mauricio Reinoso disallowed a goal by Venezuela substitute Alexander Rondon for offside.

Venezuela now have two wins from four qualifying games, keeping alive the World Cup dream for the South American nation where baseball is still preferred to soccer as the national sport.