Paraguay remained firmly at the top of the South American World Cup Qualifying group after a 1-0 away win over Colombia.

An early goal by Salvador Cabanas in Bogota on Saturday sent Gerardo Martino's side up to 20 points, four ahead of Argentina who defeated Uruguay 2-1 in an earlier match in Buenos Aires.

The key moment of the game came after only nine minutes when Cabanas broke down the right flank and attempted to centre the ball only to see it go straight into the net as goalkeeper Agustin Julio reacted poorly.

Paraguay defended strongly to preserve their lead with goalkeeper Justo Villar stopping a shot by Wason Renteria and Camilo Zuniga's header to give his side their sixth win in nine games.

Columbia suffered their third consecutive loss to remain sixth in the standings with 10 points.

Paraguay's next match on Wednesday is a home game against last-placed Peru in Asuncion, while Colombia visit Rio de Janeiro to face Brazil.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Bolivia climbed off the bottom of the standings after thumping Peru 3-0 in La Paz for only their second win of the qualifiers.

Striker Joaquin Botero struck twice in the first 16 minutes, heading home a Marcelo Martins cross after only four minutes and extending the advantage by heading in Joselito Vaca's corner.

Peru pressed for a goal in the second half but their fate was sealed when Ronald Garcia fired home a long range shot with nine minutes remaining to seal the win for the Bolivians, who host Uruguay in their next match on Wednesday.

The defeat piled the pressure on Peru coach Jose Del Solar, who has seen his side manage only one win so far in the qualifiers.

"We have no excuses. We must beat Paraguay next Wednesday if we want to improve our position," said Del Solar.