It was the Brazilians who got off to the best possible start after Vinicius Junior was brought down in the box inside four minutes, and Raphinha duly opened the scoring by slotting the spot kick into the bottom-left corner.
Rodrygo came close to doubling the Selecao’s lead before the quarter-hour mark after the Real Madrid winger drifted into the box from the right flank, before flashing his shot inches wide of the post.
Following a relatively incident-free first half, it looked like the Brazilians were going to coast to half-time with their one-goal lead, but Colombia hit back in the 41st minute with something of an all-Merseyside affair.
After winning the ball inside the Brazil half, former Evertonian James Rodriguez fed Luis Diaz inside the box, and the Liverpool man lashed the ball into the far corner past Reds teammate Alisson to send the sides into the break on level terms.
After the restart, it was Dorival Junior’s men who had the first opportunity, as Raphinha let fly from a distance. Camilo Vargas saved the effort, but the Colombian stopper had to get up quickly to deny Vinicius on the rebound.
The Colombians thought they had turned the game on its head past the hour mark after Alisson scrambled at a set piece in the box, and the ball crossed the line but the goal was ruled out for an offside call.
Alisson was then treated for an injury after he clattered into Davinson Sanchez when coming for another set piece, resulting in a lengthy stoppage and the Colombian defender being stretchered off the pitch.
Alisson was also forced off, and following the changes, neither side looked likely to find the second goal.
However, Brazil utilised the eventual 10 minutes of stoppage time to devastating effect, and Vinicius sent the crowd into jubilation in the 99th minute when his deflected effort from distance nestled in the back of the net.
The win for Brazil sends them up into second place in qualifying, while Colombia sit in sixth place, six points ahead of Bolivia in the play-off spot.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Vinicius Junior (Brazil)