The Colombian national team This Tuesday it established itself at the forefront of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and in the process deepened the bottom-place crisis Chili and his coach Ricardo Gareca with a 4-0 win at the beginning of the tenth day. The Caribbean city of Barranquilla was the scene of a new recital by the creative James Rodríguez, who provided an assist, participated in the play of another goal and was, once again, the best partner of his teammates.
Those led by Argentine Néstor Lorenzo, who are second in the qualifying rounds with 19 points, took the victory with goals from Davinson Sánchez, Luis Díaz, Jhon Durán and Luis Sinisterra in a duel that they controlled from start to finish. La Roja, on the other hand, will finish in last place with 5 points.
The hosts dominated the ball from the beginning and had their first approach in the fourth minute with a long pass from Sánchez that was controlled by attacker Jhon Córdoba, who turned to get rid of the mark and took a shot that went over the goal. by Brayan Cortés. The coffee team continued attacking and had other opportunities with a header from Sánchez, which Cortés saved without problems, and a one-on-one that Córdoba wasted.
La Roja, meanwhile, had many difficulties in getting out of the rival siege. Eduardo Vargas reflected this situation, because the few times he received he could not find anyone to pass the ball to and ended up losing it to Sánchez and Jhon Lucumí, the centre-back duo.
Luis Díaz scored one of Colombia’s four goals against Chile
When the game was getting tangled for the Colombians, central defender Sánchez’s goal arrived. James took a corner kick in the 34th minute that Córdoba headed, bounced off Chilean midfielder Erick Pulgar and then hit Sánchez, who excitedly celebrated the unexpected goal that gave the hosts the lead. Gareca’s team, whose continuity in office is in the balance, remained stunned and ended up subdued at the end of the first half, in which James almost scored the second and even had a goal disallowed, due to offside, to Cordova.
In the second half, the game did not change. Darío Osorio, Víctor Dávila and Diego Valdés were of very little importance on the visiting team, so Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas continued to be just another spectator of the game. The 2-0 came in the 52nd minute when goalkeeper Cortés and center back Benjamín Kuscevic made a mistake at the start and gave the ball to James, who enabled Díaz to send the ball into the back of the net with a first-time shot.
The Chileans barely came close for the first time in the game after the goal when Dávila launched a cross on a free kick that Valdés headed and Rodrigo Echeverría, marked by Richard Ríos, could not finish. The coffee team maintained dominance but slowed down the pace of the game. Chile, totally stunned, continued to suffer and Gareca only looked at the clock waiting for the Venezuelan referee Jesús Valenzuela to blow the final whistle.
However, La Roja conceded another goal in the 82nd minute in a lethal counterattack led by Sinisterra, which enabled the youthful Durán, the jewel of Aston Villa who entered in the second half, and in the one-on-one match he confirmed with the Colombian team the good moment he lives in the British club. The 4-0 reached the 93rd minute, after a long VAR review, in another lethal counterattack in which Sinisterra finished and Cortés saved, but on the rebound the Bournemouth attacker sent the ball to the back to close the score.
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On the next day, Colombia will visit Uruguay on November 14 and a day later Chile will visit Peru.
TECHNICAL SHEET
4 – Colombia: Camilo Vargas; Santiago Arias, Davinson Sánchez, Jhon Lucumí, Johan Mojica (m.86, Juan David Cabal); Jefferson Lerma, Richard Ríos, Jhon Arias (m.76, Jorge Carrascal), James Rodríguez 0 (m.86, Juan Fernando Quintero); Luis Díaz (m.76, Luis Sinisterra) and Jhon Córdoba (m.46, Jhon Jader Durán).
0 – Chile: Brayan Cortes; Felipe Loyola, Guillermo Maripán, Benjamín Kuscevic, Thomas Galdames (d.46, Marcelo Morales); Erick Pulgar (m.84, Ulises Ortegoza), Rodrigo Echeverría (m.60, Maximiliano Guerrero), Darío Osorio, Víctor Dávila, Diego Valdés (m.60, Lucas Cepeda), and Eduardo Vargas (m.60, Gonzalo Tapia) .
Referee: The Venezuelan Jesús Valenzuela. He cautioned Jhon Córdoba, Gonzalo Tapia, Erick Pulgar and Johan Mojica.
Goals: 1-0, Davinson Sánchez (m. 34); 2-0, Luis Díaz (m. 52); 3-0, Jhon Jader Durán (m. 82); 4-0, Luis Sinisterra (m. 90+3)
Incidents: Match of the tenth day of the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup played at the Metropolitano stadium in Barranquilla.
