Colombia 2-1 Argentina: James penalty avenges Copa America final loss

Colombia gained a measure of revenge for their Copa America final loss to Argentina by beating the Albiceleste 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier in Barranquilla.

Nestor Lorenzo's side approached Tuesday's clash at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Melendez five points adrift of their opponents in the 10-man CONMEBOL qualification group, but a deserved win saw them close that gap to two points.

Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera, who was later carried off injured on a stretcher, headed in the opener after 25 minutes, nodding into an unguarded net after James Rodriguez sent a delicate cross over to the far post.

Argentina struggled to carve out clear-cut chances in the first half but levelled just three minutes into the second period, with James' slack pass being cut out by Nicolas Gonzalez, who darted into the area before sliding his finish home.

James was given a chance to redeem himself just 12 minutes later, however, as a VAR review led to Colombia being awarded a penalty for Nicolas Otamendi's trip on Daniel Munoz.

James – the Player of the Tournament at this year's Copa – made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Emiliano Martinez the wrong way for what proved to be the winner.

Colombia almost added a third goal at the death, only for Otamendi to nod Munoz's goal-bound flick off the line, but time still ran out on Argentina.

Data Debrief: Messi-less visitors come unstuck

Argentina made light of Lionel Messi's injury-enforced absence as they thrashed Chile 3-0 last time out, but they struggled to create chances without their talisman on Tuesday.

They ended the game having only hit the target with one of their 13 shots, with a total expected goals (xG) figure of 0.9, in contrast to Colombia's 2.99.

Prior to Tuesday's match, Argentina had only fallen behind on the road in a South American qualification game once under Lionel Scaloni, when fighting back to beat Bolivia 2-1 in October 2020. There was to be no comeback this time around.