(CNN español) – Bolivia beat Colombia 1-0 with a great goal from Miguel Terceros and achieved its third consecutive victory in these qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. A huge victory, because it played the majority of the game with one less man due to the expulsion of Héctor Cuellar .
In September, Bolivia beat Venezuela 4-0 at home and added three points again by defeating Chile as a visitor. Now, with 12 points in the standings, Bolivia allows itself to dream of returning to a World Cup event.
For Colombia it was the first defeat in these qualifying rounds, the only team that was undefeated. The Colombian team has 16 points and so far is second in the Conmebol classification for the 2026 World Cup, behind Argentina, but if Uruguay wins or draws against Peru in Lima on Friday it will take away that position.
At the beginning of the match, Bolivia wanted to impose a fast game and generated several shots from outside the area that did not disturb the goal defended by Camilo Vargas. The Colombian goalkeeper gave only one rebound that was rejected by the defense and for a few more minutes Bolivia played that, appealing to the goalkeeper’s error.
Colombia, for its part, tried to slow down the pace at altitude with a combination of passes, but without attacking.
The panorama of the match changed in the 19th minute when it seemed that the Colombian striker Roger Martínez was escaping for a one-on-one against the Bolivian goalkeeper, but before that he was knocked down by the last man in a spectacular play.
The referee was forceful and sent off Héctor Cuellar with a direct red card. Three minutes later, Martínez couldn’t take it anymore and was replaced by Jhon Córdoba.
Córdoba was, precisely, the face of a Colombia that knew how to take advantage of its numerical advantage and began to attack. The striker had the clearest option of the game up to that moment (minute 29), a ball that drowned out the cry for a coffee goal by crashing into the post. Later he would have another opportunity, at minute 37, but his shot passed very close to the goal defended by Guillermo Viscarra.
In the second half, Bolivia held on and Colombia tried to strengthen its offensive power: coach Néstor Lorenzo took out Mateus Uribe and brought in Richard Ríos.
However, what was to come was local joy with Miguel Terceros’ great goal, an unapproachable shot from the corner that opened the scoring at the El Alto Municipal Stadium.
Colombia reacted to the goal by moving the bench with a double substitution: Jhon Arias and Kevin Castaño came out and Yaser Asprilla and Jefferson Lerma entered.
However, the constant in the visiting team was the lack of aim. Neither Lerma, nor Luis Díaz nor Córdoba could score on several scoring occasions.
At minute 68, Bolivia decided to manage its advantage by getting into its own field. He took out striker Terceros, scorer of the goal, and brought in Luis Paz, a defender.
Liverpool star Luis Díaz was replaced by Juan “Cucho” Hernández in the 78th minute.
Colombia insisted and had several scoring chances, but failed to score the tie. Córdoba couldn’t get it right, the Bolivian goalkeeper deflected one from Lerma in stoppage time.
Immeasurable triumph for Bolivia that is experiencing an unbeatable present. They will face Argentina on Tuesday, October 15, while Colombia will host Chile that same day.
