Brazil Suffers Another Defeat as Argentina Falls to Colombia in World Cup Qualifiers

Brazil’s struggles continued with a 1-0 defeat to Paraguay, marking their fourth loss in five World Cup qualifying games. Inter Miami’s Diego Gomez scored the match-winning goal in the 20th minute in Asuncion, leaving Brazil fifth in the qualifying table with just three wins from eight games.

Brazil failed to register a shot on target in the first half, despite a star-studded lineup featuring Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes, and Real Madrid attackers Rodrygo, Endrick, and Vinicius Jr. Vinicius, who has been prolific for Real Madrid, admitted Brazil’s current struggles: “I want to apologize to the fans… Of course, it’s been a very complicated process because when you don’t have confidence, you don’t get goals.”

Brazil’s manager Dorival Jr, appointed in January, has yet to find the right formula for his team, as they were knocked out in the Copa America quarter-finals and now face increasing pressure in World Cup qualifiers. “There are a lot of new players, we are lacking confidence,” noted defender Marquinhos.

Meanwhile, Argentina, without Lionel Messi, suffered a 2-1 defeat to Colombia. Former Real Madrid star James Rodriguez played a key role, assisting Yerson Mosquera for Colombia’s opener and scoring the winning penalty after Nicolas Gonzalez equalized for Argentina. Rodriguez expressed his delight: “We want to get used to playing finals… this victory tastes even better.”

Argentina remains at the top of the qualifying table, two points ahead of second-placed Colombia.

In other qualifiers, Uruguay drew 0-0 with Venezuela, while in Asia, South Korea claimed their first win by beating Oman 3-1, with Tottenham’s Son Heung-min and Wolves’ Hwang Hee-chan both scoring. Australia, however, struggled with a 0-0 draw at Indonesia after losing their opener to Bahrain.