Messi furious in Argentina loss, Brazil stunned by Diaz double

Lionel Messi struggled to contain his raging emotions as Argentina slumped to a defeat, while Brazil were left stunned by a Columbian comeback. 

South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) teams were in action in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with both Brazil and Argentina suffering setbacks. 

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Lionel Messi's Argentina side suffered their first defeat of the qualifiers after goals from Ronald Araujo and Darwin Nunez helped Uruguay to a 2-0 victory. 

Tensions, however, were high early on in the encounter with the Inter Miami star right in the thick of things. 

After a feisty verbal exchange between between Uruguay defender Mathias Olivera and Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, things quickly escalated when Messi arrived.

The eight-time Ballon D'or winner charged onto the scene and pushed his elbow against the defender before he could be seen briefly putting his hand around the Uruguayan's throat.  

Araujo opened the scoring in the 41st minute when he surged into the box to get his foot on the ball that was played to the far post, powerfully slotting the ball past Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who managed to get a touch on the ball with his right foot, but was ultimately unable to prevent the goal from penetrating his net. 

Messi came close to levelling matters when his free kick on the edge of the box hit the bar and bounced out of play in the 60th minute. 

Nunez, however, put the game beyond any doubt when he was played through behind the Argentinean defence and found himself one-on-one with Martinez. The Liverpool striker slotted the ball coolly into the back of the net, helping his side to second place on the CONMEBOL qualifying table. 

Meanwhile, Brazil slumped to their second consecutive defeat of the qualifiers after they were unable to hold onto an early lead, resulting in Colombia's Luis Diaz scoring twice in quick succession to give his side a 2-1 victory.  

Gabriel Martinelli scored his first international goal, in the 4th minute. After a slick one-two with Vinicius Junior, the Real Madrid star carried the ball into the box before laying it off for the Arsenal winger stretched his legs to put it past Camilo Vargas in goal.  

Despite having the Los Blancos duo of Vinicius and Rodrygo up front, the Brazilians were unable to add to their advantage. 

They would ultimately rue their missed opportunities when Luis Diaz equalised after getting his head onto a ball that was delivered from the left-hand side of the pitch in the 75th minute. 

Just four minutes later, with his dad watching on from the stands following his kidnapping ordeal, he got his head onto a ball that was lofted into the box from the right by captain James Rodriguez, and directed it to the bottom left corner, beyond his helpless Liverpool teammate Alisson Becker. 

The forward's 79th minute heroics secured Colombia their second win of the qualifiers and third place on the table, while Brazil tumbled to fifth, picking up one point in their last three games. 

Other results from matchday five CONMEBOL qualifiers: 

Bolivia 2 - 0 Peru

Venezuela 0 - 0 Ecuador 

Chile 0 - 0 Paraguay 

Read: Ronaldo helps Portugal keep perfect qualifying record 

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