Argentina were dealt a major blow when Enzo Fernandez was shown a red card, leaving the hosts with ten men for a large portion of the match. Colombia capitalised on the numerical advantage early, taking the lead through Luis Diaz in the 24th minute.
Since making his senior debut in 2005, Messi has scored 112 goals in 192 appearances for Argentina, winning the World Cup in 2022, two Copa America titles and a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The win secured the top spot for Argentina in the CONMEBOL standings.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said on Wednesday he had yet to decide whether captain Lionel Messi would start in their next World Cup qualifier against Chile, as he continues to closely monitor the 37-year-old's fitness.
Already assured of their place in the 2026 World Cup, Argentina will travel to Santiago (play against Chile on June 06) and then host Colombia (June 11) at the Monumental Stadium.
“No, yes in a joking tone we often talk, but he has those desires to play the World Cup next year too,” Suarez told Ovacion.
The result in the match held in the Bolivian city of El Alto guaranteed the 2022 World Cup winners a top-six finish and direct qualification for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said their 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Friday's World Cup qualifier in Montevideo showed the depth of their squad after Lautaro Martinez, Lionel Messi and Paulo Dybia all missed out due to injury.
Argentina edged to the brink of qualification for the 2026 World Cup on Friday after a superb strike from Thiago Almada earned them a 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Montevideo.
Reigning world champions Argentina remain top with 19 points, holding a three-point lead over Colombia, despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Venezuela in their previous match, where Lionel Messi returned from injury.
Argentina were held to a 1-1 draw against Venezuela on Thursday in Lionel Messi's return to international duty in South America's World Cup qualifiers.
These two teams already faced off in a 2024 final: the CONMEBOL Copa America Futsal, where Brazil won 2-0 thanks to goals from Pito and Rafael Dos Santos.
An Argentine court on Tuesday authorized the transfer of football legend Diego Maradona's remains, at his daughters' request, from a cemetery to a mausoleum to be built for him in central Buenos Aires.
Maradona died in November 2020, aged 60, while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, and after decades of battling addictions to cocaine and alcohol.
The footballing great, who led Argentina to a second World Cup title in 1986, died aged 60 in November 2020 from heart failure after undergoing brain surgery days earlier.
The incident was caught by the cameras broadcasting the match in Barranquilla and quickly uploaded to social media, where Colombian fans interpreted it as a sign of being a sore loser.
Coach Lionel Scaloni will present a team without captain Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria after a long time. The two significant absences force the World Cup winning coach to think about a renewed composition of the national team.
"There was a threat at my sister's business: it was a box with a pig head and a bullet in the forehead, and a note that said that if I returned to (Rosario) Central, the next head was that of my daughter Pia," Di Maria told TV station Rosario3.
All four sides in Group B were tied on three points going into the last matches, but Javier Mascherano's Argentina qualified by beating Ukraine 2-0 in Lyon while Morocco eased through with a 3-0 victory against Iraq in Nice.
