Colombia secured its place at the 2026 World Cup on Thursday (4). In the match valid for the 17th round of the South American qualifiers, the team defeated Bolivia 3-0 and guaranteed the next edition of the tournament.
Midfielder James Rodríguez, former Real Madrid player Bayern Munich and was the author of the first goal of Colombians in the game. He reached 30 goals for his country, consolidating himself as the second largest top scorer in history. Jhon Cordoba scored the second while Juan Quintero made the third.
The result led Colombia to the fifth position of the qualifiers, with 25 points won. In the last round, the team will visit Venezuela next Tuesday (9), at 20:30 (Brasília), in Maturin.
Already Bolivia, parked in eighth place, but continues to go to the World Cup. With 17 points, the team is only one behind Venezuela, a country that is winning the place for the intercontinental play-offs. In the decisive round, the Bolivians will receive Brazil, also at 20:30, in El Alto.
The game
Colombia began the match taking danger in the 12 -minute mark when midfielder Jhon Arias finished well and stopped at goalkeeper Carlos Lampe.
The owners of the house followed by pressing in the following minutes and opened the scoring with midfielder James Rodríguez. He received a good pass from the side Santiago Arias and kicked first to put the Colombians in front.
Pushed by its fan who filled the metropolitan stadium Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia almost widened in the final stretch of the first. James put the ball in the area and defender Davinson Sánchez headed for Lampe.
Behind the marker, Bolivia went out more to attack the return of the break. At seven minutes, defender Roberto Fernández risked from outside the area and goalkeeper Camilo Vargas made the defense.
In a quick counterattack, striker Jhon Cordoba broke into the area and hit hard to make the second of Colombians. In the end, Ponta Luís Díaz made excellent play and rolled to midfielder Juan Quintero closes the account in 3-0.
