Colombia down Argentina as Brazil also suffer stunning loss in FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers

Colombia avenged their Copa America final defeat with a 2-1 victory over Argentina while Brazil crashed to a 1-0 defeat against Paraguay in South American qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

Skipper James Rodriguez buried a nerveless 60th-minute spot-kick to seal a hard-fought win for Colombia over the reigning world champions, who were without injured captain Lionel Messi.

It was sweet revenge for Colombia, who were beaten 1-0 by Argentina in a bitterly disappointing Copa America final loss in Miami two months ago.

The victory at Barranquilla's Metropolitano Stadium lifted Colombia into second place in South America's 10-team qualifying competition with 16 points from eight points, just two points behind leaders Argentina.

Colombia, backed by a passionate home crowd, took the lead in the 25th minute when Rodriguez chipped a cross to the back post where Yerson Mosquera rose to head home.

But three minutes after the interval, the visitors drew level when a misplaced pass from Rodriguez was pounced upon by Nicolas Gonzalez, who raced away and slotted past advancing Colombia keeper Camilo Vargas.

Twelve minutes later, though, Colombia restored their lead in controversial fashion.

Nicolas Otamendi clattered Daniel Munoz with a wild challenge and after several minutes, Chilean referee Piero Maza was sent to the VAR monitor and awarded a penalty.

Rodriguez stepped up and confidently slotted home, sending Argentina's penalty specialist Emiliano Martinez the wrong way.

Despite the defeat, Argentina remains comfortably on course for a place at the 2026 World Cup which is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

With the tournament expanded to 48 teams, the top six finishers in South American qualifying will win a berth to the finals.

The seventh placed team in qualifying goes into an inter-confederation playoff, with the bottom three teams eliminated.

Brazil stumble

Five-time world champions Brazil meanwhile continued their unconvincing qualifying campaign with a 1-0 defeat against Paraguay in Asuncion.

Inter Miami midfielder Diego Gomez -- who is reportedly due to join Premier League side Brighton at the end of the season -- scored the game's only goal, crashing a long-range shot in off the post in the 20th minute.

The defeat leaves Brazil in fifth place in the standings on 10 points, leading by goal difference from Venezuela, who drew 0-0 at home to Uruguay on Tuesday.

Paraguay meanwhile moved into seventh place on nine points after just their second win of the qualifying campaign.

Brazil's Marquinhos and Estevao look dejected after the match against Paraguay.Reuters

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Chile's hopes of qualifying suffered another body blow after they slumped to a 2-1 loss at home to Bolivia.

After winning back-to-back Copa Americas in 2015 and 2016, the Chileans failed to qualify for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The prospect of missing out on a third straight tournament loomed closer after goals from Carmelo Algaranaz and Miguel Terceros handed Bolivia a 2-1 win.

The victory left Chile languishing in ninth place in the standings with just five points from eight games as Bolivia climbed into eighth, trailing seventh-placed Paraguay on goal difference.

Ecuador meanwhile boosted their qualification hopes with a 1-0 win over Peru in Quito thanks to a goal from veteran striker Enner Valencia.

Ecuador sit in fourth place in the standings with 11 points from eight games. Peru remains bottom of the table with just three points from 10 games.

Australia struggle in World Cup qualifying as Son lifts South Korea

Australia failed to score for the second successive match, China slumped to another defeat but Son Heung-min scored a stunning goal as South Korea got off the mark in Asian World Cup qualifying on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Japan won their second successive Group C match by defeating Bahrain 5-0 in Riffa, meaning the continent’s best-ranked side have scored 12 unanswered goals across two matches.

Graham Arnold's Socceroos, having been shocked at home 1-0 by Bahrain last week, dominated their Group C encounter with Indonesia but were held 0-0 in front of almost 80,000 fans at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

Japan look the team to beat in the group, with the No.18-ranked country in the Fifa standings following last week’s opening 7-0 victory against China with another emphatic win.

Hajime Moriyasu’s men took the lead at Bahrain International Stadium just after the half hour through Ayase Ueda's powerful penalty, before the Feyenoord forward doubled the visitors’ advantage two minutes into the second half.

Another double, this time from Sporting CP’s Hidemasa Morita, put the game well out of the hosts’ reach, leaving Koki Ogawa to round off the scoring nine minutes from time.

Japan’s next opponents, Saudi Arabia, had to play the last 71 minutes of their Group C match against China in Dalian with 10 men, but Roberto Mancini's still side found a way to come back from a goal behind to win 2-1 in the dying seconds.

Hassan Kadish equalised with a header from a corner before half-time and repeated the feat in the last minute of the 90 to spark wild celebrations from the visitors.

Saudi Arabia's Hassan Kadish (C) celebrates after a goal during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier football match between China and Saudi Arabia in Dalian.AFP

China, thumped in Japan last week, had taken the lead in the 14th minute via an Ali Lajami own goal.

South Korea's English Premier League strike force of Hwang Hee-chan and Son both scored as they beat Oman 3-1 in Muscat.

Wolverhampton's Hwang opened the scoring after 19 minutes before Jung Seungh-hyun's own goal equalised on the stroke of half-time.

Tottenham's Son got South Korea's second, turning outside the box and firing home an unstoppable left-foot finish on 82 minutes.

Joo Min-kyu put the result beyond doubt in the 11th minute of added time after being played in by Son.

It was South Korea's first win in the final Asian qualifying phase after they were held goalless at home by Palestine last week.

Palestine lose to Jordan

The Palestinians could not repeat their heroic performance in Seoul, however, and were beaten 3-1 by Jordan in a match played in Kuala Lumpur because of the war in Gaza.

North Korea drew 2-2 with Asian Cup champions Qatar in wild weather in a Group A match played in Vientiane.

Ri Il Song gave North Korea an early lead, in what was nominally their home fixture, before they were reduced to 10 men when Jang Kuk Chol was red carded for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity.

Akram Afif scored the resulting penalty and Almoez Ali put the Qataris 2-1 up at half-time.

After the break, the heavens opened violently, dumping huge amounts of water on the Laos National Stadium pitch.

Kang Kuk Chol pierced the gloom with a rasping free-kick equaliser from 30 yards before puddles on the pitch grew into lakes leaving the referee no choice but to take the players off.

North Korea drew 2-2 with Asian Cup champions Qatar in wild weather in a Group A match played in Vientiane.Facebook/QatarFootballAssociation

There was a delay of more than 20 minutes until the rain eased but when the teams resumed there were no further goals as the players struggled on the waterlogged surface.

Also in Group A, perennial World Cup qualifiers Iran made it back-to-back 1-0 wins to begin the third round after seeing off the UAE at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.

The visitors, sitting 20th in the Fifa standings, sealed the three points thanks to Mehdi Ghayedi’s finish deep into first-half stoppage time. Ghayedi plays his club football in the Emirates, for top-flight side Ittihad Kalba.

Following on from last week’s 1-0 triumph at home to Kyrgyzstan, the win lifts Iran second in the group, level on both points and goal difference with Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan beat Kyrgyzstan 3-2 in Bishkek.

In the matchday’s final Asian qualifiers fixture, Kuwait were held to a goalless draw in Group B by 10-man Iraq at Jaber Al Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City.

The top two teams from each of the three six-team Asian groups will be guaranteed a place at the expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.