James Rodriguez shone to help Colombia defeat Argentina in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the early morning of September 11.
Colombia beat Argentina 2-1 in the early morning of September 11. Photo: Colombian Football Federation
Full time! Argentina lost 1-2 away to Colombia. La Albiceleste’s winning streak ended at 11 games.
Although Coach Scaloni’s squad is still atop the standings with 18 points, they are only 2 points clear of Colombia and 1 point ahead of Uruguay should they prevail over Venezuela.
90+7: Not a target. Argentina must contend with a counterattack because to their high formation. Martinez is faced by Jefferson Lerma, but his shot is unsuccessful.
There are 7 minutes of injury time in the second half.
Minute 84: Not at all. After a smart pass from a teammate, Lautaro Martinez handled the issue too intricately and lost the chance.
Paulo Dybala was added to the field by Coach Scaloni.
Minute 80: Following the second goal, Argentina attempted three substitutes, but to no avail.
Minute 72: Oops! Colombia counterattacked well, creating lots of space. Jhon Duran received the ball, but he slipped and missed the mark, placing him squarely in Martinez’s path.
Minute 66: It’s not possible. Argentina mounted a strong counterattack, but the game-winning pass lacked force and was intercepted once more.
James Rodriguez made up for his mistake with a goal from the 11m mark. Photo: Colombian Football Federation
Minute 59: Goal! James Rodriguez successfully executes the penalty kick. Colombia takes the lead for the second time.
Minute 57: After checking VAR on the collision in Argentina’s penalty area, the referee determined that Otamendi had committed a foul and awarded Colombia a penalty.
Minute 48: Goal! Nicolas Gonzalez equalizes. A bad pass from midfield by James Rodriguez was intercepted by Nicolas, who charged straight into the penalty area and finished to equalize 1-1 for Argentina.
Argentina is currently leading 1-0 against Colombia. Photo: Argentine Football Federation
End of first half. Host Colombia temporarily leads Argentina 1-0.
The first half has 3 minutes of injury time.
Minute 44: No goal! Argentina had 2 consecutive corner kicks with 3 shots from Lisandro Martinez, Nicolas Otamendi and Lautaro Martinez but the ball was blocked by the home team’s defender or missed the target.
Minute 40: Argentina is quite stuck in attack. They have only had 2 shots since the beginning of the match and both were not on target.
Jame Rodriguez assisted Colombia’s opening goal. Photo: Colombian Football Federation
Minute 25: Goal!!! Colombia opened the score. A good corner kick by the home team, James Rodriguez chipped the ball close to the goal, Yerson Mosquera jumped high to head the ball into Emiliano Martinez’s net.
Minute 18: Rodrigo de Paul shoots from afar, the ball goes a bit high over the Colombian goal.
Minute 15: The match started to speed up. Argentina counter-attacked with a lot of space but the decisive pass was intercepted by the home team’s defender.
Julian Alvarez shot from a tight angle from outside the box but failed to score. Photo: Argentine Football Federation
Minute 12: Missed! Goalkeeper Camilo Vargas went outside the penalty area to receive the ball but was slow to handle it, Julian Alvarez intercepted it and shot but the ball went across the goal.
Minute 10: Both teams started the match cautiously, with low speed of attack. The home team Colombia was more proactive with crosses into the penalty area from set pieces and corner kicks.
03h32: The match begins.
Colombia’s starting lineup. Photo: Colombian Football Federation
Argentina’s starting lineup. Photo: Argentine Football Federation
Pre-match information
Just a few months after their defeat in the Copa America final, Colombia has a chance to get revenge on Argentina in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America.
It wouldn’t be the biggest shock if Colombia won, as bookmakers have struggled to offer odds for this match, especially as Colombia return to Barranquilla unbeaten in the qualifiers this time around (W3 D4).
As fate would have it, before the most recent World Cup held in the US (1994), Colombia also had an undefeated qualifying journey.
Born in Buenos Aires and a former assistant coach with Argentina, coach Nestor Lorenzo will hope to use his deep knowledge to help Colombia maintain their recent good home results – W4 D5 L1.
The first match in that home run for Colombia was a 2-2 draw with Argentina, when La Albiceleste quickly let go of a 2-0 lead.
This time they will be without Lionel Messi due to injury. But even that did not stop the reigning world champions and South America from moving one step closer to the 2026 World Cup with a 3-0 win over Chile on September 6.
Argentina is leading the rankings with 18 points (6 wins, 1 loss).
Coach Lionel Scaloni will want that form to continue, especially as they have not lost an away game in World Cup qualifying since a 0-2 defeat to Bolivia in 2017 (W9 D4).
In fact, Argentina won their last three away games in qualifying, twice against teams that ended with a red card.