The selection of Peru postponed today its fight to get out of last place in the World Cup qualifiers by drawing 1-1 in Lima with Colombia, which thanks to Luis Diaz maintained its unbeaten record, although it lost ground to leader Argentina.
Alexander Callens It made one think of Peru’s first victory at home, after two defeats and a draw, but Lucho Díaz left everything the same in the National Stadium of Lima.
The Bicolor team tried every way to win, but the Cafetero team responded with speed and deep play.
The team led by Argentine Néstor Lorenzo set the pace of the match, but the Peruvian defense maintained its barrier to clear the area and Colombia’s skirmishes went wide, or ended up in the hands of Pedro Gallese.
Peruvian striker Gianluca Lapadula also caused some concern, but was slowly nullified by his guards.
In the second half, James Rodríguez came on and created another dynamic that made Gallese stand out.
Finally, Alexander Callens opened the scoring in the 67th minute of play, after a cross from Sergio Peña.
At Colombia’s request, the referee reviewed it with the VAR and confirmed the first goal for Peru, to the jubilation of the stadium.
In the reaction of the coffee growers, Gallese blocked the shots of the visitors and kept his goal unbeaten.
Díaz shoots at the Inca goal again, but Gallese controls it.
The action is stopped for a few minutes due to a blow to Callens’ face.
However, in the 83rd minute, Díaz equalised with a header after a corner kick from Rodríguez, and managed to earn a point in Lima.
Due to a CONMEBOL sanction, Fossati was unable to coach Peru and was replaced by his technical assistant Leonardo Martins.
In the next round, Peru will visit Ecuador, while Colombia will host Argentina.
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– Technical data sheet:
1. Peru: Pedro Gallese; Miguel Araujo, Carlos Zambrano, Alexander Callens; Wilder Cartagena (m.90, Andy Polo), Sergio Peña (m.81, Jean Pierre Archimbaud), Marcos Lopez; Gianluca Lapadula (m.81, Bryan Reyna) and Alex Valera.
Selector: Leonardo Martins
1. Colombia: Camilo Vargas; Daniel Munoz, Carlos Cuesta (m.45, Yerry Mina), Jhon Lucumí, Johan Mojica; Jefferson Lerma, Richard Rios, Luis Sinisterra (m.45, James Rodriguez), Jhon Arias (m.74, Y.Asprilla); Luis Diaz and Jhon Cordoba (m.74, J Duran).
Selector: Nestor Lorenzo
Referee: Uruguayan Esteban Ostojich cautioned Luis Sinisterra and Yerry Mina.
Goals: 1-0, m.67: Alexander Callens. 1-1, m.83: Luis Díaz.
Incidents: Match of the seventh day of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers played at the National Stadium in Lima.EFE
