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Colombia beat DR Congo 1-0 in Guadalajara to book their spot in the Round of 32, Daniel Muñoz finally breaking through in the 76th minute after DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi had single-handedly kept it goalless for most of the match. Colombia had 20 attempts and Luis Díaz had two goals ruled out — so the scoreline was never really in doubt, just the breakthrough. No red cards, no extra time drama, just a very good goalkeeper running out of luck. Colombia face Portugal on June 27 in a group decider; DR Congo must beat Uzbekistan on the same day to stay alive.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Colombia need a win to put one foot in the round of 32 and make a case for topping Group K. DR Congo, meanwhile, are already exceeding expectations after holding Portugal to a draw — and a point here would put them in a remarkable position with one game left against Uzbekistan. Lose and it gets complicated. Win and Colombia are almost certainly through.
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2These two countries have never played each other in a competitive match, so there's no score to settle and no bad blood to speak of. What there is: a fairly stark gap in World Cup pedigree. Colombia were at the last tournament. DR Congo haven't been to one since 1974, when they lost 3-0 to Brazil in West Germany. That's 52 years between appearances, if you're keeping count.
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3Luis Díaz is the one to watch, and not just because he's Colombia's best player — though he is. He spent last season at Bayern Munich, which is the kind of thing that sounds impressive even if you've never watched a game of football in your life. He hit the post, set up a goal and scored one against Uzbekistan in the opener, which is exactly the kind of start Colombia needed and he needed personally.
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4DR Congo's preparation hit a small snag when Colombia's final training session before this game was suspended due to a storm. Not directly DR Congo's problem, but it tells you something about the conditions both sides are navigating in Guadalajara. For Congo, the more interesting subplot is how they managed to out-shoot Portugal 8-7 with only 25% of the ball — they're set up to absorb pressure and hit on the break, which is exactly what they'll try again here.
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5DR Congo are at the World Cup for the first time in 52 years — actually at it, actually playing games, actually getting results. The fact that they drew with Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in their first match back is either a sign of how good they are or how bad Portugal were, and frankly it doesn't matter which. If you want a reason to care about this match beyond Colombia, it's watching whether a team that's been off the planet for half a century can do it again.
Team Talking Points
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1Colombia's World Cup ended in the cruellest way possible: a 0-0 stalemate with Switzerland in the Round of 16, settled on penalties, where the Swiss held their nerve 4-3. Twenty minutes of extra time and nobody could score — that's either agonising or oddly fitting, depending on how you feel about penalty shootouts as a concept.
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2The high point was a near-perfect run before that: beating Uzbekistan 3-1, then holding Portugal to a scoreless draw to finish top of a tough group, followed by a 1-0 win over Ghana in the Round of 32. That's four games unbeaten, including a result against a team with Cristiano Ronaldo on it, before penalties finally got them.
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3Right-back Daniel Muñoz quietly became one of the stories of the group stage, scoring in wins over both Uzbekistan and DR Congo — not bad for a position where you're mostly supposed to just not concede.
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4Luis Díaz, now at Bayern Munich after leaving Liverpool, was Colombia's main attacking threat throughout. James Rodríguez, 34 and now Colombia's all-time World Cup appearance leader, ran things from midfield as captain — still doing the job he's done since 2014.
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5After the Switzerland exit, Colombian football royalty like Falcao were publicly unimpressed with how it ended. Worth remembering if it comes up: topping a group with Portugal in it and reaching the Round of 16 is a solid tournament by recent Colombian standards — the criticism is more about expectations than the actual results.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Colombia topped a group with Portugal in it, then went out to Switzerland on penalties without either side scoring a goal in 120 minutes — genuinely one of the more Colombian ways this could have ended.
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Avoid saying
"They always bottle it in the knockouts" — they beat Ghana 1-0 in the Round of 32 and only lost on penalties after 120 goalless minutes with Switzerland. That's not bottling it, that's just penalties being penalties.
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1DR Congo's World Cup ended in the Round of 32 against England — they actually took the lead, before Harry Kane scored twice late on to send them out. Losing to England happens to a lot of teams; taking the lead against them first is the part DR Congo can be proud of.
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2Just being there was already history: this was DR Congo's first World Cup in 52 years, and they became the first Congolese side ever to reach the knockout stage.
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3The breakout story of their whole run was Newcastle forward Yoane Wissa, who scored three goals in the group stage — including DR Congo's first ever World Cup goal, a stoppage-time equaliser against Portugal that turned a defeat into a point.
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4They backed that up with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, Wissa on the scoresheet twice more either side of a goal from Mayele — enough to send DR Congo through as one of the best third-placed teams in the tournament.
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5A 52-year wait, a first ever knockout appearance, and a new star in Yoane Wissa to build the next cycle around — DR Congo's tournament ended in defeat, but it's hard to find much of a downside in how they got there.
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Top thing to say down the pub
DR Congo hadn't been to a World Cup in 52 years, then Yoane Wissa scored their first ever goal in one, in stoppage time, to save a point against Portugal. However it ends, that's a story worth knowing.
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Avoid saying
"Congo" on its own, or mixing them up with Congo-Brazzaville — this is DR Congo, a different country, and getting that wrong in front of an actual fan undoes any goodwill you built up mentioning the 52-year gap.