Vinícius rescues Brazil, US crashes, Mexico beats Canada

(AFP) With a Vinícius Jr. goal in stoppage time, Brazil beat Colombia 2-1 on Thursday in Brasilia and gained new life in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

Following the his strong season at Barcelona, attacker Raphinha opened the account at Mané Garrincha Stadium with a penalty kick in the 6th minute, but Liverpool winger Luis Díaz equalized with a cross-shot at the end of the first half (41).

The Real Madrid star (90+9) sealed the win with a long-range effort that lifted the "Canarinha," with the remainder of matchday 13 to play, from fifth to second place, with 21 points, and pushed Colombia back from fourth to sixth, with 19.

Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday, when the "Seleção" plays a new South American derby against leaders Argentina in Buenos Aires and the "Tricolor" hosts Paraguay in Barranquilla.

Paraguay defeats Chile

With grit, Paraguay defeated Chile 1-0 on Thursday in Asunción and provisionally settled in third place in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, a result that further buries "La Roja" in the second-to-last spot of the standings.

The only goal of the match, on the 13th matchday of the regional World Cup qualifier, was scored by defender Omar Alderete, in the 60th minute.

With this result, Paraguay now has 20 points, and Chile remains with 9. On Tuesday, the 14th matchday will take the Paraguayans to Colombia, while Chile will host Ecuador in Santiago.

Panama dethrones USA

With a goal in the 90+4th minute, Panama defeated the United States on Thursday 1-0 and advanced for the first time to the final of the CONCACAF Nations League, where it will face the winner of the other semifinal between Mexico and Canada.

Cecilio Waterman took advantage of the Central American team's only shot on goal to score the winning goal at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

In its first official match under Mauricio Pochettino, the United States saw its prior dominance in the CONCACAF Nations League, in which it had won the three previous editions, come to an end.

Mexico holds out against Canada

With a brace by Raúl Jiménez, a refereeing controversy and a fortunate resistance, Mexico beat Canada 2-0 on Thursday in the second semifinal of the CONCACAF Nations League and will meet Panama in the final.

Jiménez, in the 46th second and 75th minute, scored the goals for Mexico in their victory at SoFi Stadium.

Mexico reaches its third Nations League final. For Panama, it will be the first.

Merino rescues Spain

A stoppage-time goal from Mikel Merino earned Spain, the reigning European champions, a valuable 2-2 draw away to the Netherlands in the first leg of their Nations League quarterfinal in Rotterdam on Thursday.

The Arsenal player, who starred in the win over Germany at the Euro, scored in the third minute of stoppage time when everything seemed to be leading to a home victory with goals from Cody Gakpo (28') and Tijjani Reijnders (46'), who had come back from Nico Williams's early goal to take the lead (9').

The draw gives Spain wings ahead of Sunday's second leg in Valencia and is surely disappointing for the Dutch, who were superior and paid dearly for their lack of ambition in the second half.

Germany, who played in Italy the only away win (2-1) in the first leg of the quarterfinals, and Croatia, who beat France 2-0, took a first step towards the Nations League Final Four on Thursday.

Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo lost Thursday to Denmark (1-0) in Copenhagen, in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Nations League, in a match in which the Danes were superior.

Denmark dominated possession from the start of the match, but had difficulties in translating this to the scoreboard until the 78th minute, with a goal by Rasmus Højlund.