No Messi adds to Argentina’s woes

SAO PAULO — Hours after Lionel Messi was suspended by FIFA for four World Cup qualifying matches, Argentina lost 2-0 to Bolivia in the altitude of La Paz on Tuesday and heightened its risk of missing a spot at Russia 2018.

Argentina dropped from third to fifth place, remaining on 22 points in South American qualifying with four games to play and putting coach Edgardo Bauza under intense pressure to step aside.

South America has four direct spots at the World Cup, and the fifth-ranked team goes into an inter-continental playoff against the Oceania qualifying winner for another spot at Russia next year.

While Argentina struggled, Colombia had a 2-0 win at Ecuador, posting its first win in Quito in 20 years and ensuring it will end the round in second or third spot. Ecuador dropped out of the top five for the first time, slipping to sixth with 20 points.

The result at Quito opened the prospect of a possible early qualification for leaders Brazil, which has won seven straight and has 30 points from 13 matches in qualifying.

If the Brazilians beat seventh-place Paraguay in Sao Paulo, they will have enough points to secure a top-five spot in qualifying.

Also on Tuesday, Copa America champion Chile beat last-place Venezuela 3-1 in Santiago and climbed back to fourth spot with 23 points.

And now Argentina’s best chance of qualifying for the next World Cup seemingly relies on winning an appeal to have Messi’s suspension shortened. The Barcelona star made offensive remarks to a Brazilian linesman in the 1-0 victory against Chile last Thursday and, if the FIFA ruling prevails, will only return to the team in their last match for qualifiers in October against Ecuador.