Hungary moved tantalizingly close to a first appearance at a major tournament for nearly 30 years when Laszlo Kleinheisler's goal gave it a 1-0 win in the first leg of a Euro 2016 playoff against Norway in Oslo Thursday. Kleinheisler scored the game's only goal in the 26th minute, taking a touch to control Adam Szalai's pass before whipping the ball home after Norway had created a flurry of chances in a strong opening period. A draw in the home leg Sunday will put Hungary into the Finals in Francen after years in the wilderness since it qualified for the 1986 World Cup. "We are happy now after 90 minutes, to win this game, but the second game will be Sunday. We can't think about celebrating," Hungary coach Bernd Storck told reporters. "It's a very good job and nothing more — we have to do a very good job on Sunday," he added. The defeat was Norway's first by Hungary since 1981 and highlighted its inability to score, having managed only 13 goals during a qualifying campaign in which midfielder Alexander Tettey was its top scorer with three goals. Ecuador in best start Ecuador beat Uruguay Thursday to top the South American World Cup qualifying group after three games but Brazil and Argentina must wait after their much anticipated clash was postponed because of heavy rain. Ecuador won 2-1 to record its third consecutive win and its best start to the qualifying phase. Goals by Felipe Caicedo and Fidel Martinez gave the Andean side, which began with a shock 2-0 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires last month, the three points in Quito after Edinson Cavani had scored an equalizer for Uruguay. The win was at altitude but Ecuador was missing four leading players including the England-based pair of Valencias, Antonio and Enner, while Uruguay, still without Luis Suarez, was strengthened by Cavani's return from suspension. Chile missed a chance to stay joint top when Colombia came from behind to grab a deserved 1-1 draw in Santiago. A header from Artur Vidal on the stroke of halt time put the home side ahead but Colombia was the better team in the second period and Real Madrid's James Rodriguez got an equalizer with 67 minutes gone. Argentina, with only one point from two matches, was supposed to meet Brazil in Buenos Aires but the match was postponed because of torrential rain in the Argentine capital. The game is now scheduled to take place Friday at 9 p.m. local time (0000 GMT). Brazil is sixth in the 10-team group, while Argentina is eighth. Four teams qualify automatically and a fifth goes into a playoff. Bolivia, which lost its first two matches, lifted itself off the bottom of the table with a 4-2 win over Venezuela. Striker Rodrigo Ramallo scored twice, midfielder Juan Arce converted a penalty and Rudy Cardozo hit their fourth in the second half. Venezuela, which struggled to knit moves together, replied through Mario Rondon and Richard Blanco though had fellow striker Luis Seijas sent off in added time. Peru faces Paraguay Friday in Lima. Morocco wins at home Morocco began its bid for a fifth World Cup Finals appearance with a 2-0 home win over Equatorial Guinea Thursday despite having defender Adil Karrouchy sent off early in the second half. Thursday's first-leg matches also produced away victories for the Democratic Republic of Congo (3-2 over Burundi), Guinea and Uganda (1-0 over Togo), while Benin secured a 2-1 home win over Burkina Faso. — Agencies
