Bolivia Secures 1-0 Victory Over Brazil With Terceros' Penalty, Handing Ancelotti His First Defeat

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Bolivia's dream of returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1994 remains alive after a surprising 1-0 victory over Brazil. This match marked Carlo Ancelotti's first defeat as Brazil's coach. Miguel Terceros scored the decisive penalty during first-half stoppage time at Estadio Municipal El Alto, securing Bolivia seventh place and a spot in the intercontinental play-offs.

Brazil, with little more than pride at stake, struggled to find their rhythm. They nearly fell behind when Luis Haquin's cross just missed Enzo Monteiro. Bolivia continued to press forward, with Terceros' curling shot narrowly missing Alisson Becker's post. The hosts took the lead after being awarded a penalty late in the first half.

Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes lost possession cheaply and then fouled Roberto Fernandez in the area while trying to recover. Terceros converted the penalty into the bottom-left corner. He almost added a second goal in the 71st minute, but Alisson parried his shot away. In the closing moments, Alisson made an incredible save to deny Carmelo Algaranaz's header from crossing the line.

Elsewhere, Colombia secured third place in the qualifying table with a thrilling 6-3 win over Venezuela. Luis Suarez was instrumental, scoring four goals in this high-scoring encounter. Suarez became the first player since Uruguay's Luis Suarez in November 2011 to score four times in a South American qualifying match.

The Colombia vs Venezuela match tied for the highest-scoring game ever in South American qualifiers. It matched three other historic matches: Chile 7-2 Colombia and Peru 6-3 Venezuela both in 1965, and Argentina 6-3 Ecuador in 1960.

Ancelotti began his tenure with Brazil positively after replacing Dorival Junior in May, achieving two wins and a draw that secured World Cup qualification. However, this performance was underwhelming. Brazil managed an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.36 from their ten shots, only three of which were on target, compared to Bolivia's xG of 1.78 from their 23 attempts.

Ancelotti Faces Challenges

Ancelotti only led Brazil through their final four qualifying matches, but they experienced one of their poorest campaigns historically with a success rate of just 52%. Their second-worst campaign was in 2002 with a success rate of 56%, which ended with them winning their last World Cup title.

This result leaves Ancelotti with much to consider as he looks to improve Brazil's performance ahead of future competitions.