Argentina held 1-1, Bolivia stun Colombia

Lionel Messi

Salomon Rondon grabbed a second-half equaliser as Venezuela held Argentina to a 1-1 draw in South America's 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Thursday while 10-man Bolivia upset Colombia 1-0.

The return of Lionel Messi to Argentina's starting line-up looked to have put the world champions on the way to victory after the Inter Miami superstar's free-kick set up an opening goal for Nicolas Otamendi after 13 minutes. But a battling performance by Venezuela in front of their home fans in Maturin was rewarded midway through the second half when the 35-year-old Rondon met Yeferson Soteldo's cross with a header that flew past Argentina goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli.

Bolivia recovered from the first-half dismissal of midfielder Hector Cuellar to dig out victory in a game played in the thin air of El Alto, which is situated at around 4,150m (13,600 feet) above sea level. A superb individual goal from Miguel Terceros handed the Bolivians their fourth victory of qualifying and vaulted them up into the automatic qualification positions.

Meanwhile, Brazil got their campaign back on track with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Chile on Thursday. Chile rocked Brazil after just two minutes when veteran striker Eduardo Vargas steered a looping header over Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson to make it 1-0. But Brazil drew level in first-half stoppage time after Savinho worked himself into space before crossing for Botafogo forward Igor Jesus to head home. The match looked destined to finish in a draw until the 89th minute, when Brazil substitute Luiz Henrique arrowed in a low shot from the edge of the area to make it 2-1.

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