James Rodríguez scored from the penalty spot and had an assist to help Colombia edge defending champions Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday in a South American World Cup Qualifier.

The Argentina attack missed Lionel Messi, who was sidelined because of injury.

Yerson Mosquera opened the scoring in the 25th minute but Argentina equalised in the 48th when Nico Gonzalez capitalised on a defensive blunder from the Colombians. Rodríguez’ 60th-minute penalty, which was awarded after a video review, secured the win at the Metropolitano Stadium.

“It is a great win against an Argentina team that has won it all,” Rodríguez said. “The weather was tough, it was so hot, but we had an excellent match. It is a fair win.”

World Cup champions Argentina lifted the Copa America trophy after a 1-0 overtime victory over Colombia in July.

Colombia, who hadn’t triumphed over Argentina since 2019, are still unbeaten in South American World Cup qualifying.

Also on Tuesday, Bolivia upset Chile 2-1 at Santiago; Ecuador beat Peru 1-0, and Venezuela drew 0-0 with Uruguay.

Argentina lead the round-robin competition with 18 points after eight matches, two points clear of Colombia. Uruguay are in third position with 15 points, followed by Ecuador with 14.

The top six qualify directly for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with the seventh place offering passage via further rounds of qualifiers.

Colombia once again had the 33-year-old Rodríguez to thank after he gave a perfect cross for Mosquera to nod in and open the scoring. That equalised Carlos Valderrama’s record of 11 assists in South American World Cup qualifying.

A mistake by Rodríguez allowed Argentina to equalise, with Nico González stealing the ball from him and shooting past goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.

But Rodríguez made amends when he beat Dibu Martínez, a prolific penalty stopper, and equalised Falcao García’s mark of 13 goals in World Cup qualifying.

Argentina’s strikers Lautaro Martínez and Julian Alvarez failed to offer as much danger as they do when veteran Messi is there to create opportunities for them.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said the heat had an impact on the match.

“The heat is the same for both, but it is evident that there were not good conditions for us to see a spectacle,” the coach said.

Outplayed on road

Brazil slumped to a fourth defeat in their last five qualifiers after a first-half goal by Diego Gomez gave Paraguay a 1-0 win in Asuncion.

Five-time world champions Brazil, who scraped a 1-0 home win over Ecuador on Friday, are fifth in South American qualifying with 10 points, ahead of Venezuela on goal difference.

Manager Dorival Jr, who took over from Tite after Brazil’s quarter-final exit at the 2022 World Cup, looked forlorn on the sidelines as his side were comprehensively outplayed and fortunate not to lose by more.

Brazil fell behind in the 20th minute when Gomez rifled home from the edge of the box, the ball smacking the post on its way past Alisson into the net.

“The coach is still figuring out the best way for us toplay and that’s reflected in the result,” defender Marquinhos said.