"Unfortunately, we are ending the work contract with professor Leonel Alvarez and we are starting a selection process for a new coach," Colombian Football Federation (FCF) president Luis Bedoya told reporters.
The 46-year-old Alvarez, a midfielder in Colombia's fine team of the 1990s, had only been in the job since September when he replaced Hernan Dario Gomez, who resigned after a hitting a woman in a Bogota nightclub scandal.
"We have made no decision. What we want is to look for a coach who will give us guarantees and hopefully the experience required for the qualifiers," he said.
FCF sources said there was no chance of Gomez being reinstated as some members of the federation's executive committee had proposed.
Colombia recalled Gomez, who had steered Ecuador to their first World Cup finals in Asia in 2002, last year charging him and his assistant Alvarez with ending the country's long wait for another finals.
His team took the lead against a lacklustre Argentina last month but they failed to press home their advantage and Lionel Messi's side hit back with two second-half goals.
