James Rodriguez slot home a penalty to sink Argentina in a World Cup qualifier
Brazil suffered their fourth defeat in five qualifying games with a 1-0 loss to Paraguay as Argentina were beaten 2-1 by Colombia in the latest qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup.
Inter Miami’s Diego Gomez scored the winner for Paraguay in Asuncion after 20 minutes as Brazil failed to register a shot on target in the first half.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and West Ham playmaker Lucas Paqueta all started for Brazil with the Real Madrid trio of Rodrygo, Endrick and Vinicius Jr in attack.
“I want to apologise to the fans, I know it’s a difficult time, but we just want to improve,” Vinicius told Brazilian TV channel Globo.
The 24-year-old winger has scored over 20 goals for Real in each of the last three seasons but has only five goals from 35 caps for Brazil and failed to score at the 2022 World Cup.
“I know my potential, what I can do for the national team,” he added.
“Of course, it’s been a very complicated process because when you don’t have confidence, you don’t get goals.”
The result leaves five-time world champions Brazil fifth in the qualifying table with only three wins from eight games.