Colombia beat DR Congo 1-0 on Tuesday night (23), at the Akron Stadium, in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the second round of Group K of the 2026 World Cup.
The goal was scored by full-back Daniel Muñoz in the 30th minute of the second half, after a play created by Juan Quintero and Jhon Córdoba inside the Congolese area.
The goal had a special flavor for the Colombian: in the first half, Muñoz had found the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
The first half was dominated by the Colombian team, which created countless opportunities and repeatedly stopped goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, responsible for decisive interventions with shots from James Rodríguez, Luis Díaz and Johan Mojica.
In the 11th minute, James dominated in the middle and hit a left-handed shot with precision, but the Congolese archer made the bridge and prevented what would be the first goal of the match.
In the second stage, the scenario remained similar, with Colombia pressing and DR Congo betting on compact defense and counterattacks.
Luis Díaz scored two goals in the second half, but both were disallowed — the first due to a foul in the dispute with the defender, and the second due to an offside by the number 7 himself.
Goalkeeper Camilo Vargas was also required in the final minutes, making important saves to preserve the result, including an intervention on Nathanael Mbuku’s shot in the 46th minute of the second half.
In stoppage time, the match became even more tense. After a corner, the ball deflected off Richard Ríos and Vargas made another save to guarantee the Colombian victory.
In statistical terms, Colombian superiority was evident. The team led by Néstor Lorenzo ended the match with 423 successful passes compared to 210 from DR Congo, in addition to 20 shots in total compared to just seven of their opponents.
Ball possession also reflected Colombian dominance during the 90 minutes, with the South American team controlling offensive actions throughout practically the entire match.
DR Congo, in turn, bet on marking and reached 10 defensive blocks, in addition to three difficult saves by goalkeeper Mpasi, demonstrating organization to make the opponent as difficult as possible.
With the result, Colombia reaches six points and takes the lead in , with two wins in two games and early classification for the next phase of .
DR Congo remains with one point, in third place in the group, and needs to win in the last round to keep its chances of qualifying for the knockout stages alive.
