Host nation Colombia will be seeking to restore what may prove to be humiliating defeat when they take on Ecuador for the next round of 2026 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday night.
Nestor Lorenzo’s side will come into the match after a 3-2 defeat to Uruguay and they are now in third place on the table, while Ecuador defeated Bolivia 4-0 and they are now on a four match unbeaten run.
Colombia probably thought they had earned a point from the match against Uruguay on Friday when Andres Gomez equalized in the 96th minute, to make the score 2-2 but then came the final kick of the match, the extra 11 minutes of time that was given towards the end of the 90, to see Manchester United’s Manuel Ugarte put the ball past the keeper to finally give Uruguay the win.
Lorenzo’s team has now lost two out of the last three qualification matches, though they were also defeated 1-0 by Bolivia last month and are now third in the table as Uruguay moves up.
However, excluding the last match, it has been quite a successful campaign for La Sele achieved a record 5- 4- 2, 11/19- points with only three points behind the leaders Argentina.
The Colombian team will have their final match of the year in qualifying on Tuesday against Ecuador, but then they will not play again until March against Brazil, who sits fourth in the table presently.
It means that La Tricolor have qualified for the finals of six World Cups and, though they failed to qualify for the 2022 tournament, this made them all but sure about qualifying for the 2026 championship.
In contrast, Ecuador will come into this game fresh off a 4-0 victory over Bolivia, in which Gonzalo Plata scored two goals and Enner Valencia and Alan Minda also scored for the home team.
Since losing 1-0 to Brazil at the beginning of September, La Tri has won their previous four games, defeating Bolivia and Peru and drawing with Uruguay and Paraguay.
With plenty of football still to play, Sebastian Beccacece's team is now in fifth place in the standings after accumulating 16 points from their 11 games, three points behind Uruguay in second place.
La Tricolor's best-ever result at the competition was in 2006, when they advanced to the round of 16 before losing to England. They participated in the 2022 World Cup finals but were unable to make it past the group stage.
No side in the region has lost fewer games than Ecuador, who have actually had the best defensive record in their qualification group, giving up just four goals in 11 games.
Colombia has not reported any injuries from their match against Uruguay last time out, and given the shocking nature of the loss, head coach Lorenzo is likely to resist the urge to rearrange his starting lineup.
