A goal by Vinícius, after a deflection off a defender, in the 90+9 minute, earned Brazil a 2-1 victory against Colombia on Thursday and provisional promotion to second place in the South American qualifying zone for the 2026 World Cup.
When the draw seemed certain at the Mané Garrincha, in Brasília, the Real Madrid player took a chance from outside the area and was lucky, as the ball deflected off a Colombian player and deceived goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, with the ball going in close to the left post.
The Brazilian team had taken the lead after just six minutes, through a penalty scored by Raphinha, a former player for Vitória de Guimarães and Sporting, but, in the 41st minute, Luis Díaz, a former FC Porto player, restored parity.
Vinícius' sixth goal for the 'canarinha', in 38 games, ended up making the difference, with Brazil adding 21 points, four behind leaders Argentina and one more than Uruguay, who face each other today in Montevideo. Colombia dropped to sixth place.
The Brazilians started well, with Vinícius being brought down in the box by Daniel Muñoz, in the fourth minute, and winning a penalty, which Raphinha, on a high at FC Barcelona, converted with class, in the sixth, placing the ball close to the right post.
The 'canarinhos' still dominated until the middle of the first half, but their production began to decline and, in the 41st minute, Joelinton, who had replaced the injured Gerson, lost the ball close to his area and James served Luis Díaz, who scored with a cross shot, for his fourth goal in seven games against Brazil.
After the break, the game lost quality, with Raphinha still threatening the second, in the 53rd minute, as well as James, in the 68th, on the other side, in a second half still marked, negatively, by the clash between Alisson and Davinson Sánchez, both substituted.
In the final part, Brazil - who lost Bruno Guimarães and Gabriel Magalhães, through suspension, and, in principle, Gerson, through injury, for Tuesday's match in Argentina - ended up being lucky and got a victory that they did little to justify.
In the first game of the 13th round, Paraguay continued its run of excellent results, adding its seventh consecutive match in which it scored points (four wins and three draws), thanks to a 1-0 home win over a disappointing Chile.
A goal from defender Omar Alderete, a player for Spanish side Getafe, in the 60th minute was enough for the Paraguayans to reach 20 points, move up to fourth place and move closer to their ninth appearance in a final phase, and their first since 2010.
For their part, the Chileans, South American champions in 2015 and 2016, remained with nine points, for now in ninth and penultimate place, and are increasingly far from the 2026 World Cup, after having already been absent from the 2018 and 2022 editions.
The top six teams in the South American zone will qualify directly for the final phase of the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States, from June 11 to July 19, and the seventh-placed team will go through to a play-off.
Japan, from the Asian zone, was the only team that had already secured qualification, joining the three co-hosts.
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