Colombia down Argentina, Brazil stunned in World Cup qualifiers

in a dramatic night of South American World Cup qualifiers Colombia secured a stunning 2 to1 victory over Argentina while Brazil suffered a shocking 1 to zero loss to Paraguay these results shook up the standings as teams VI for a spot in the 2026 World Cup Colombia led by Captain hamus Rodriguez earned Redemption after their heartbreaking Copa America final defeat to Argentina just two months earlier playing at bar and Kia's metropolitano Stadium Rodriguez was the hero of the night calmly converted a penalty in the 60th minute to secure the win it was a particularly sweet moment for Rodriguez who admitted he had never scored against Argentina before adding this Victory tastes even better the match began with Colombia dominating early and in the 25th minute Rodriguez floated a precise cross to ersen mosara who headed the ball home to give Colombia the lead Argentina missing their injured Captain lonel Messi responded shortly after the break Nicholas Gonzalez capitalized on a misplay pass from Rodriguez racing past Colombia's defense and slotting the ball into the net to level the score however the game turned in Columbia's favor once more when Argentina's Nicholas ODI was penalized for a reckless Challenge on Daniel Munoz after Consulting the V Chilean referee Piro Maza awarded a penalty which Rodriguez converted with composure sending Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez the wrong way Colombia's John Duran had a chance to extend the lead but missed a close- range effort the win moved Colombia to second place in the South American Qualifiers with 16 points from eight games two points behind leaders Argentina despite the loss Argentina remains well positioned for World Cup qualification with the top six teams earning a place in the expanded 2026 tournament meanwhile Brazil's struggles continued as they were stunned by Paraguay in aunion inter miam's Diego Gomez scored the lone goal of the match in the 20th minute with a longrange strike that deflected off the post Brazil the five-time world champions could not find a way back and SLI to fifth place in the standings with 10 points Paraguay's Victory moved them into seventh just outside the automatic qualification spots in other matches Venezuela held Uruguay to a zero to zero draw at home keeping Pace with Brazil while Chile's World Cup hopes suffered another setback despite hosting Bolivia Chile fell 2 to1 with goals from Carmelo algar andz and Miguel teros sealing the victory for Bolivia this loss leaves Chile in ninth place with just Five Points while Bolivia climbed to eighth Ecuador also bolstered their World Cup aspirations with a crucial 1 to zero win over Peru in keto veteran Striker enner Valencia scored the decisive goal lifting Ecuador to fourth place in the standings with 11 points Peru remains at the bottom of the table with only three points from 10 games making their path to qualification increasingly unlikely as the race for World Cup spots intensifies teams across South America are facing mounting pressure with only a few games left to secure their places in the expanded 2026 tournament hosted by the United States Canada and Mexico