Brazil were not intimidated by more than 60,000 raucous fans at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, as Tite’s side outclassed second-placed Uruguay to win 4-1 and stay firmly on course for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho scored an unexpected hat-trick and Neymar added another goal as Brazil recovered from conceding an early penalty, scored by Edinson Cavani.

Victory extended Brazil’s lead in South American qualifying to seven points and was Tite’s seventh straight qualifying win since the coach took over from Dunga in September. The five-times World Cup winners could qualify for Russia on Tuesday with victory over Paraguay, if Ecuador and Chile both fail to win.

Brazil’s impressive away win did not begin promisingly, a blunder by the defender Marcelo leading the goalkeeper Alisson to foul Cavani only seven minutes after kick-off. That allowed the Paris Saint-Germain striker to score his ninth goal in South American qualifiers, more than any other player. It was the first time Tite had seen his team trail, and against a team that had won all six of their home qualifiers so far.

Ten minutes later Paulinho, now playing for the Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande, equalised with a shot from the edge of the box that flew into the goalkeeper Martin Silva’s left corner. The scores remained level at half-time, but with Brazil dominant. After 52 minutes, Paulinho scored again to put the visitors in front.

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Uruguay stepped up the pressure in search of an equaliser but Brazil posed a constant danger on the break. With 74 minutes gone, the defender Miranda cleared from his box, Neymar beat Uruguay’s Sebastián Coates to the ball and lobbed Silva to make it 3-1.

The victory was further embellished deep into stoppage time when Paulinho completed his hat-trick, forcing a Dani Alves cross over the line with his chest. “Not in my wildest dreams I expected something like this,” the midfielder said afterwards.

Tite added that such an emphatic win was more than he expected. “I was happy about the 90 minutes,” he said. “Our capacity to absorb a goal against us and keep playing was based on one idea. Our team is very self-aware. We did more than controlling the match, we were dominant.”

Uruguay missed Luis Suárez, who was suspended, while Manchester City’s teenage forward Gabriel Jesus was out for Brazil with a broken toe. Brazil will be without Alves for the home match against Paraguay on Tuesday in São Paulo, while Uruguay will travel to face Peru.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lionel Messi sends Claudio Bravo the wrong way to score a penalty for Argentina against Chile. Photograph: Alejandro Pagni/AFP/Getty Images

Elsewhere, Argentina boosted their qualification chances with a narrow win over Chile in Buenos Aires. The hosts prevailed 1-0 thanks to a 16th-minute penalty from Lionel Messi. The win moved Edgardo Bauza’s side up to third in the table, with Chile slipping to sixth.

The result takes the pressure off Argentina, whose players have refused to speak to the media because of criticism they have endured over recent matches. “What matters is that we won,” Bauza said. “This was very difficult. It was like a knockout stage match.”

His Chilean counterpart, Juan Antonio Pizzi, disagreed. “I consider it totally unfair that we lost,” he said. “We managed to control the virtues of the Argentinians, and they are many. We deserved to get one goal.”

Fourth-placed Colombia also needed a penalty to secure a 1-0 home victory against Bolivia, with Real Madrid’s James Rodríguez scoring the spot-kick. The Lille defender Júnior Alonso scored the winner for Paraguay as they beat fifth-placed Ecuador 2-1, while Venezuela drew 2-2 at home to Peru. Venezuela led 2-0 at half-time, but goals from André Carrillo and Paolo Guerrero earned Peru a point.

The latest results have intensified the race for automatic qualification, with only four points separating Argentina in third and Paraguay in seventh. The top four sides will go to Russia, with the fifth-placed team requiring a play-off to qualify.

In the next round of matches, Argentina will travel to Bolivia, where they have not won since 2005. Chile will take on Venezuela at home, while Colombia travel to Ecuador for a crucial qualifier.