Two South American football powerhouses, Argentina and Brazil, suffered shock losses in their FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying matches due to the absence of their biggest stars. Lionel Messi missed Argentina’s 2-1 loss to Colombia, while Neymar was absent as Brazil were upset by Paraguay. James Rodriguez scored and provided an assist to help Colombia defeat world champions Argentina 2-1, while Diego Gomez scored the winner for Paraguay in a 1-0 victory over Brazil. Both teams struggled without Messi and Neymar, with their replacements failing to secure away wins.
Colombia’s victory over Argentina was seen as sweet revenge after their loss in the Copa America final to Argentina. Yerson Mosquera opened the scoring for Colombia, but Argentina equalized through Nico Gonzalez before Rodriguez converted a penalty to secure the win. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni noted the impact of the heat on the match, while Rodriguez praised his team for the victory. The defeat marked the first time Argentina had lost to Colombia since 2019.
In the match between Paraguay and Brazil, Gomez scored the only goal of the game with a shot that deflected in off goalkeeper Alisson’s post. Brazil, led by coach Dorival Junior, struggled to create opportunities to equalize. Junior’s promise of reaching the World Cup final seemed far-fetched after suffering his first defeat since taking over. The Brazilian squad expressed a lack of confidence and admitted they are still figuring out their best playing style.
In the other CONMEBOL qualifiers on the same day, Bolivia upset Chile 2-1, Ecuador defeated Peru 1-0, and Venezuela drew 0-0 with Uruguay. Argentina currently leads the round-robin competition with 18 points, followed closely by Colombia with 16 points. Uruguay and Ecuador are also in contention with 15 and 14 points respectively. Brazil, despite the setback, is in fifth place with 10 points and is still in the running for a spot in the World Cup 2026.
With the FIFA World Cup 2026 featuring an expanded format of 48 teams, the top six finishers in the South American qualifying tournament will secure a spot in the finals. The seventh-placed team will enter an inter-confederation playoff, while the bottom three teams will be eliminated. Despite the unexpected losses, both Argentina and Brazil remain on course to qualify for the World Cup 2026, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
