It looked as if Jose Pekerman's side was heading towards a frustrating draw in Barranquilla, until captain James netted from the rebound after his penalty had been saved by Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Lampe.

Colombia had earlier hit the crossbar twice through Luis Muriel and Yerry Mina, but Juan Cuadrado was then fouled by Cristian Coimbra in the box to give the host a chance from the spot.

The home team has now ended a poor run of form that saw them come into the game winless in its last three qualifiers, failing to score in their last two.

Bolivia remains second bottom of the table. Angel Hoyos' side beat Paraguay last time out but has now lost seven straight away matches in qualifying.

Colombia came close to getting the opener when Muriel latched on to Pablo Armero's cross and sent a first-time volley against the bar from 10 yards.

Lampe then saved Mateus Uribe's strike at the second attempt after the Colombia midfielder had been found by Macnelly Torres.

The host – already playing without the injured Radamel Falcao - suffered a blow just after the half-hour mark when Muriel limped off with an apparent hamstring injury, Luis Quinones replacing him.

And Colombia could not find a breakthrough prior to half-time, Cuadrado heading narrowly wide from James' cross in its last big chance of the half.

Real Madrid star James saw his header from Armero's cross pushed away by Lampe after the break as Bolivia continued to frustrate the host, despite offering little attacking threat itself.

Colombia soon struck the woodwork for the second time, Mina's looping header from a corner bouncing off the underside of the bar and adjudged not to have crossed the line.

Macnelly had Lampe worried with a 25-yard drive that just flew wide, before Pekerman's final change saw Edwin Cardona replace the ineffective Carlos Bacca.

Lampe saved James' dipping effort and a penalty claim for handball against Coimbra was turned down as the match entered the final 10 minutes.

But Coimbra was penalised in Colombia's next attack, the Bolivia defender ruled to have fouled Cuadrado as the Juventus winger raced onto the ball in the right-hand side of the box.

That allowed James to step up from the spot, with Lampe saving his initial effort with a dive to his right, but his parry allowed the Madrid star to convert the rebound from eight yards and give Colombia a sixth straight win in competitive matches against Bolivia.