The Colombia team managed to seize a valuable point from the land of Argentina after imposing a 1-1 draw on the owners of the land, in a strong meeting held at dawn today at the “Monemaltel” stadium in the capital Buenos Aires, for the 16th round of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
Early goal late rose
Louis Diaz, the Liverpool wing, initiated Argentina’s net with a great goal in the 24th minute, taking advantage of his individual skill in hacking the Argentine defense and successfully ending the ball, to give the guests worthy progress ended in the first half.
But the Argentine national team did not surrender, and managed to adjust the result in the 81st minute through the player Almeida, who took advantage of a defensive Derka in the Colombian penalty area and hit a ball that inhabited the net amid great fans.
An influential expulsion and Messi leave
The meeting witnessed a milestone at the 70th minute after the expulsion of Enzo Fernandez, the star of the Argentine midfield, to complete the “Tango” last minutes with ten players.
The star Lionel Messi also left the field in the 78th minute amid the applause of the fans, and Palacius replaced him, in a precautionary move by coach Lionel Scalloni.
Argentina formation in front of Colombia
The Argentina team entered the match with a basic squad that included:
Goalkeeping: Emiliano Martinez
Defense: Molina, Romero, Outamoni, Medin
Center: De Ball, Paridis, Enzo Fernandy
The attack: Almeida, Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez
Columbia formation led by Lorenzo
Coach Nestor Lorenzo relied on the following squad:
Goalkeeping: Kevin Mair
Defense: Monoz, Lucome, Sanchez, MacADO
Center: Lerma, Castanio, Rios
The attack: James Rodriguez, Campaz, Louis Diaz
The arrangement of the two teams after the meeting
Despite the tie, the Argentine team continued to lead it to the South American qualifiers with 34 points, and he had officially qualified for the 2026 World Cup finals before this round.
On the other hand, the Colombia team raised its score to 22 points, ranked sixth, a location that qualifies it directly for the world championship, according to the new qualification system, which includes the first six teams from the continent.
