Messi started but Argentina still drew with Colombia at home, Brazil got a ticket to the 2026 World Cup

Argentina have already qualified for the 2026 World Cup from the match in March. The matches against Chile and Colombia are just to warm up Messi, when he returns and prepares to participate in the final round next summer.

Messi started but Argentina still drew with Colombia at home, Brazil got a ticket to the 2026 World Cup - Photo 1.

Messi played hard, but was always closely marked by Colombian players, in his return to play in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Photo: Reuters

Messi played for about 30 minutes in the second half of the 1-0 win over Chile on June 6. He was sent by coach Scaloni to the starting lineup to face Colombia at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on June 11. However, in this match, Messi did not really stand out next to his two juniors Julian Alvarez and Thiago Almada in attack.

Messi's mark in the match against Colombia was a dangerous free kick in the 68th minute that almost resulted in an equalizer for Argentina. Before that, striker Luis Diaz had a beautiful solo goal to open the score 1-0 for Colombia in the 24th minute.

After missing a chance to equalize from Messi's free kick and Nicolas Gonzalez's unsuccessful rebound, Argentina suffered a loss when key midfielder Enzo Fernandez received a red card in the 70th minute for a rough foul on a Colombian player.

Playing short-handed, coach Scaloni had to make many personnel adjustments for the Argentina team. In particular, Messi was taken off the field in the 78th minute and replaced by Exequiel Palacios. Just a few minutes later, Palacios passed the ball to Almada, who broke into the penalty area and scored a spectacular goal to equalize the score 1-1 for Argentina in the 81st minute.

This draw made the Colombian team very disappointed, because they still have not found the joy of victory after 6 recent matches with only draws (3) and losses (3). "La Tricolor" is still ranked 6th with 22 points after 16 matches, only 4 points more than the 7th ranked team (Intercontinental play-off position) Venezuela, while there are 2 rounds left in the South American qualifying round.

Meanwhile, for the Argentina team, the 1 point gained against Colombia only adds to their No. 1 position on the South American qualifying rankings, which they have already firmly held since before the last 3 rounds (currently 35 points after 16 matches, 10 points ahead of the 2 teams right behind, Ecuador and Brazil).

Brazil got a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, thanks to coach Ancelotti

After a somewhat unconvincing 0-0 draw with Ecuador on June 6 in coach Ancelotti's debut, the Brazilian team was able to regain its image with a 1-0 win over its rival Paraguay on June 11.

Messi started but Argentina still drew with Colombia at home, Brazil got a ticket to the 2026 World Cup - Photo 2.

Coach Ancelotti and Vinicius brought an important victory to the Brazilian team and got a ticket to the 2026 World Cup

Photo: Reuters

The only player to score the important victory for the famous yellow-green team was striker Vinicius in the 44th minute of the first half, from an assist by Matheus Cunha.

This golden goal was also the difference in the tense match between Brazil and the extremely tough Paraguay. Thereby, Selecao and coach Ancelotti completed their mission early when they officially got a ticket to the 2026 World Cup finals 2 rounds ahead of schedule.

Brazil has 25 points after 16 rounds, 7 points ahead of 7th-placed Venezuela, while there are 2 rounds left in the South American qualifiers. Thereby, officially taking the 2nd ticket in this region with Argentina to attend the 2026 World Cup.

The South American region will also determine the third spot, if Ecuador (24 points) does not lose to Peru in the late match on June 11.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/messi-da-chinh-nhung-argentina-van-hoa-colombia-ngay-san-nha-brazil-lay-ve-den-world-cup-2026-18525061110091552.htm