Colombia and Portugal compete for leadership of Group K of the 2026 World Cup this Saturday (27), at 8:30 pm, in Miami.
Guaranteed in the 32-team phase, Colombia is in first place, with 6 points, after two victories. Portugal, which drew with the Democratic Republic of Congo in its debut (1-1) and then beat Uzbekistan (5-0), occupies second place, with 4 points.
The clash will be the toughest test yet for Portugal’s top scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, with two goals scored in the tournament.
Against a team much stronger than Uzbekistan, its only victim so far, the star will need to work hard to get closer to Lionel Messi, from Argentina, with five goals, and the group with four goals: Vini Jr. (Brazil), Erling Haaland (Norway), Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé (France) had this mark after the opening games on Friday (26).
Colombia has only conceded one goal so far in the World Cup, in two matches.
In an interview this Friday, Portugal’s coach, Spaniard Roberto Martínez, highlighted the parity between the teams in Group K.
“I think the group is in a very good balance. When we are together on the field, we can work mainly on gaining confidence,” he said.
Colombia’s coach, Néstor Lorenzo, pointed to midfielder Vitinha, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo, as a danger to his team.
“Vitinha and Ronaldo are decisive. One controls the game and the other completes the play. We cannot leave them alone or careless”, said Lorenzo this Friday.
Another Colombian challenge against the European team is to increase the effectiveness of the attack. The only goal against DR Congo, on Wednesday (24), came after 16 attempts.
In the second round, Portugal left behind the lackluster performance of their debut against the African team and defeated Uzbekistan without any major difficulties, with a pair of goals from Cristiano Ronaldo.
Colombia secured top spot with a 1-0 victory in the second round against Congo, after beating Group K punching bags Uzbekistan 3-1 in their opener.
DR CONGO X UZBEKISTAN
With 1 point, DR Congo still has a chance of qualifying if they beat Uzbekistan, who have not scored so far, this Saturday (27), in Atlanta.
Debutant Uzbekistan, in order to advance as one of the eight best third-placed teams, needs to achieve a rout that greatly improves its goal difference (-7), allowing it to stay ahead of teams from other groups that have accumulated the same 3 points.
