Ten-man Colombia and Japan were level at 1-1 at halftime in their World Cup Group H match on Tuesday.
Colombia midfielder Carlos Sanchez was sent off in the third minute for deliberate handball and Shinji Kagawa's penalty put Japan 1-0 ahead. It was the second fastest red card in World Cup history.
Colombia equalised six minutes before the interval when Juan Quintero's low free kick squeezed over the line.
"02:56 - Carlos Sanchez's red card after two minutes and 56 seconds is the second fastest shown in World Cup history, after Jose Alberto Batista for Uruguay vs Scotland in 1986 (54 seconds). Handed," OptaJoe tweeted.
Earlier, attacking midfielder James Rodriguez was left out of Colombia's starting team to play Japan in their World Cup Group H opener in a big blow to the Latin American side.
The Colombia talisman, who won the golden boot in Brazil four years ago, has been troubled by muscle fatigue and the onus will be on all-time leading scorer Radamel Falcao to lead the Cafeteros in his absence.
Four-times Asian champions Japan lost 4-1 to Colombia in Brazil and have been hamstrung by a poor build-up to the tournament, including the sacking of Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic in April.
The Blue Samurai included the experienced duo of midfielder Shinji Kagawa and defender Yuto Nagatomo in their starting line-up.