A slap in the face for Brazil and Argentina!

Brazil are in a crisis whose end is not on the horizon! Last night, Selecao suffered a defeat - their fourth in the last five games - to Paraguay in Asuncion 1-0! The victory against Ecuador four days ago only partially calmed the public, which will be fuming after another loss. Brazil have never missed a World Cup, but considering Dorival Junior's team's performances and table position (only one point ahead of Bolivia, the first team below the "qualifying line"), anything could happen.

Selecao wanted a renowned name on the bench, even Carlo Ancelotti was in the mix, but in the end, the five-time World Champions ended up with Dorival Junior, whose recent moves will undoubtedly be under the spotlight - especially calling up Lucas Moura, who was barely a squad member even during his spell with Paris Saint-Germain. Moreover, the former Tottenham winger recorded only 45 minutes for the national team in the past eight years?! Still, the current Sao Paulo player - for which he noted five goals and three assists in 17 appearances this season - even got the chance in the last 15 minutes last night and, as you can guess, made no impact.

In the first half, after Leo Messi's teammate of Inter Miami, Diego Gomez's 20th-minute opener - and winner, as it turned out - Selecao had only one chance, through Guilherme Arana, whose strike Junior Alonso stopped with a goal-line clearance. After the break, Dorival subbed in the aforementioned Moura and Brighton's Joao Pedro, among others. The latter brought some energy to the team, while Rodrygo and Luiz Henrique had several attempts, but in vain.

Now, everyone expects the reaction of CBF (Confederation of Brazilian Football) and parting with Dorival, whose statement at the pre-match press conference: "We will be in the 2026 World Cup final. We will be finalists. You can film me while I'm saying this. I have no doubts. We will be there," definitely didn't age well.

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On the other hand, in Barranquilla, Colombia served a cold vengeance to Argentina for a defeat in the Copa America final two months ago, beating La Albiceleste 2-1. This triumph - the first over Argentina after five years - reduced the gap between the current World and South American Champions and Colombia to only two points.

The Argentinian on Los Cafeteros' bench, Nestor Lorenzo, outsmarted his fellow countryman Lionel Scaloni, limiting La Albiceleste to only one shot on target. Once more, Colombia were led by outstanding James Rodriguez, who first found Yerson Mosquera in the box with a perfect cross for the leading goal and then converted a penalty for 2-1.

Without the injured Lionel Messi, Argentina were deprived of their biggest creative power, and that was pretty evident. Their only attempt on target and the only notable thing they did in 90 minutes was Nico Gonzalez's 48th-minute equalizer. On the other hand, Colombia remained the only undefeated team in the South American World Cup qualifiers.

In the rest of the eighth-round clashes, Bolivia noted the first away triumph in the qualifiers after 31 years and 67 matches! La Verde beat Chile - which continued disappointing their fans and currently sit in the penultimate spot - in Santiago 2-1. Ecuador continued a - so far - good campaign with a home win over the last-placed Peru 1-0, while Venezuela and Uruguay drew 0-0.

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - SOUTH AMERICA

Tuesday

Colombia - Argentina 2-1 (1-0)

/Mosquera 25, Rodriguez 60 pen - Gonzalez 48/

Wednesday

Chile - Bolivia 1-2 (1-2)

/Vargas 39 - Algaranaz 13, Miguelito 45+1/

Ecuador - Peru 1-0 (0-0)

/Valencia 54/

Venezuela - Uruguay 0-0

Paraguay - Brazil 1-0 (1-0)

/Gomez 20/