Colombia and Peru face off in the World Cup qualifiers on Thursday.

It will be a rather eventful game for both sides as they look to overcome two recent draws that had major implications for both sides.

The first big draw was at the Copa America in Chile, a game that put Colombia within inches of a massive tournament disappointment. Fortunately Colombia got help from Brazil and made it to the following round before it got eliminated. However, the Peru game was a big moment for Los Cafeteros as it showed how weak the offense currently was in a team lacking midfield balance. Meanwhile Peru took the draw with Colombia as a means to catapult it to third place in the tournament.

A few weeks ago the second big game occurred between the two teams. That friendly ended 1-1 but gave Colombia tremendous grief. Star James Rodriguez did not finish the match and has not played since. He will not be around to assist Colombia as it looks for some offense.

Radamel Falcao will be back, but his recent track record is nothing to balk at. Of course fans will remember his role in leading Colombia to the 2014 World Cup but that seems to be a thing of the past. Back in that qualifying phase "El Tigre" scored nine goals for his country including crucial penalties against Chile to clinch the berth at home. However, he has struggled to find any consistent form since then and was an unnecessary distraction during the Copa America.

Peru was not in the World Cup in 2014 and was near the bottom of the standings for most of that run. However, the team might gain some courage from its recent Copa America performances and build off of that in the upcoming qualifiers.

Prediction: Peru shocks Colombia 1-0.

Start Time: 4:30 p.m. EDT.

The game will air on beIN Sports USA and can be streamed here with a subscription.