Lionel Messi lost 2-1 to Colombia to Colombia and Neymar lost to Brazil’s Paraguay, leaving two South American powers. James Rodriguez scored from the penalty spot to defend Argentina in Colombia, winning 1-0 and scoring the winning goal for Paraguay. Both Argentina and Brazil have struggled without injured stars, and the replacements of Messi and Neymar have failed to win away games for their teams.
In the 25th minute, Yerson Mosquera headed in a close-range header for Colombia, but in the 48th, Argentina intercepted Nico González’s Rodrguez cross. Rodriguez revised his award within an hour after a video review to win at the Metropolitan Stadium.”It was a great win against Argentina and the weather was very hot but our game was very good,” said Rodriguez.”It’s a fair victory.”Gomez scored for Paraguay from the edge of the box as he headed the ball past goalkeeper Alisson’s right post.Brazil had little chance of an equalizer, handing coach Dorival Júnior his first defeat since taking over in January.
The Brazil coach, who is usually reserved in front of the media, said his team would qualify for the World Cup finals even if they lost.Real Madrid striker Vinicius Junior.His idea of starting with a defensively strong Paraguay team of Endrick and Rodrygo clearly failed. The hosts opened the scoring in the 20th minute and midfielder Lucas Moura said the match was over.”They came to defend, and even worse after they scored,” said substitute Moura.
Paraguay put together a historic win that will put them in contention for a place at the next World Cup.New coach Gustavo Alfaro’s side looked set to miss out in 2026, they drew with Uruguay and lost to Brazil last weekend. Uruguay is third with 15 points. Ecuador is third with 14 points.Brazil is in fifth place with 10 points.The top six teams in the month’s South American qualifiers will automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
