Colombia defeats Argentina at home and ranks as the second-best team in CONMEBOL on the road to the 2026 World Cup
BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA – Colombia defeated Argentina 2-1, taking a crucial step towards securing their spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
The winning goals came from Yerson Mosquera and James Rodríguez via penalty, while Nicolás González scored for Argentina.
With this result, Colombia is now in second place in the qualifiers, just behind Argentina, who suffered only their second defeat in the entire qualification process for the World Cup.
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Colombia capitalizes and secures a vital win at home
Colombia started strong, spurred on by their home crowd, and found the net from a corner kick. After a set-piece play, Yerson Mosquera leaped above the Argentine defense and scored with a powerful header to beat goalkeeper Martínez, making it 1-0 in the 25th minute.
It would be the only goal of the first half, despite several attempts from both teams on goal.
However, Argentina equalized early in the second half thanks to a brilliant play from Nico González, who entered the box and fired an unstoppable shot past Camilo Vargas to tie the game in the 48th minute.
Colombia, undeterred, managed to regain control, and with a well-taken penalty by James Rodríguez, they secured the 2-1 victory, avenging their Copa América loss and climbing to second place in the battle for World Cup qualification.
🎥 ¡𝙀𝙡 𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙡 🔟!
El gol de la 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂 😎#TodosSomosColombia 🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/qsQwP96lkO
— Selección Colombia (@FCFSeleccionCol) September 10, 2024
This is how the road to the World Cup looks
The result leaves Argentina at the top of the standings with 18 points; however, Colombia is now very close with 16 points, awaiting the conclusion of the day’s matches.
Colombia’s next qualifier will be against Bolivia on October 10, while Argentina will face Venezuela in the next round.
Argentina could potentially have Leo Messi back for those matches, as he was absent from this one due to injury.
