Casemiro opened the scoring by tapping into an empty net in the sixth minute for Brazil before Ecuador equalised in the 75th minute with a header by Felix Torres.
With World Cup spots secured, Brazil are in Ecuador with the aim to give their fringe players some game time; Argentina will be hoping Dybala finds his scoring boots as they travel to Chile.
Second-place Argentina qualified after Chile lost 2-0 at home to third-place Ecuador.
Lionel Messi will play for Argentina when they face Brazil on Tuesday in World Cup qualifier while Neymar will miss out because of left thigh pains.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said Monday that Messi, who has been bothered by a knee injury, will play in San Juan in a match that could earn the team a spot in next year's World Cup.
Argentina can secure a World Cup spot if it beats Brazil and if two of three other teams — Uruguay, Chile and Colombia — fail to win but will have to do so without injured Lionel Messi.
Brazil has 31 points and Argentina has 25 from 11 matches — their encounter in September was bizarrely suspended after seven minutes of play because of concerns from authorities over breaches of COVID-19 protocols.
Leaders Brazil easily defeated Uruguay 4-1 in their South American World Cup qualifying match while second-place Argentina beat Peru 1-0 a few hours earlier and are also close to clinching a direct qualifying berth.
Lionel Messi was among the scorers as Argentina beat rival Uruguay 3-0, hours after Brazil's run of consecutive wins in South American World Cup qualifying ended in a 0-0 with Colombia.
Leaders Brazil and second-place Argentina had uninspiring performances in their World Cup qualifying matches on Thursday, but gained key competition points.
The president of the Brazilian football confederation was suspended for 21 months as a sexual harassment case against him proceeds.
Brazil's squad for three World Cup qualifiers, including the Uruguay game and matches at Venezuela and Colombia, will be announced on Friday.
Just minutes into their match on Sunday, a Brazilian health official entered the pitch to remove four Argentina players.
The match between Brazil and Argentina was interrupted when an Anvisa agent and a policeman walked on to the pitch to remove four Argentina players who the agency says should be in quarantine.
Four of Argentina's Premier League players were accused of flouting quarantine requirements in Sao Paulo and of falsifying Brazilian coronavirus declarations.
Four Argentina players from EPL clubs were accused by agents of Brazil's health agency of breaching COVID-19 restriction rules by not declaring on arrival in Brazil that they'd been in England.
World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina was suspended after local health officials walked onto the pitch on Sunday in a bid to remove three players who didn’t comply with coronavirus restrictions.
Brazil topped Chile 1-0 in Santiago in a tense match despite the absence of nine of its England-based players, while Argentina beat Venezuela 3-1 at the Olimpico Stadium in Caracas.
The Premier League clubs have been reluctant to send players to South American nations that are red-listed by the British government because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spain beat host Japan 1-0 Tuesday with Marco Asensio scoring a curling shot in the 115th minute in Saitama. Brazil was taken to penalties by Mexico, winning the shootout 4-1 after a scoreless draw in Kashima.
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