A stoppage-time equalizer from Miguel Borja helped Colombia rescue a point against Argentina in the South American World Cup qualifiers. Elsewhere, Neymar scored in Brazil’s routine win over Paraguay.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina dropped two precious points in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, South American qualifiers. Colombia pegged the Albiceleste back from two goals down to end the match level on the score. Elsewhere, a Neymar-led Brazil beat Paraguay 2-0, with the talisman scoring the first of two goals on the night. Peru beat Ecuador while Uruguay stumbled to yet another draw against Venezuela.
An early blitz saw Argentina race into a two-goal lead, with Cristian Romero and Leandro Paredes netting the goals. Lionel Scaloni’s men held onto the cushion until the 50th minute before Luis Muriel pulled one back for Colombia from the spot.
With time running out, it seemed as if Argentina would be able to secure all three points. That’s when disaster struck. Juan Foyth, who won the Europa League with Villarreal recently, tried to bring the ball out from defence in the 94th minute of the match before losing out to Colombian pressure.
The ball was recycled out wide to Juan Cuadrado, who found Miguel Borja at the back post with a pin-point cross. Borja climbed over Foyth – who was off-balance after hurrying back into position – and headed the ball past the goalkeeper.
Brazil held onto their lead to beat Paraguay 2-0. Neymar opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the match, but the Brazilians had to wait until the 93rd minute to double their lead. Olympique Lyonnais’ Lucas Paqueta scored the goal, which sealed all three points for Tite’s side.
The results of the latest round of world cup qualifiers meant that Brazil strengthened their hold on the top spot in the group. Argentina, meanwhile, remained second after they failed to beat Colombia. Ecuador suffered their second consecutive loss of the qualifiers and are now down to third, with Uruguay and Colombia closing in on them.
