In a great turnaround, the Democratic Republic of Congo qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time by beating newcomers Uzbekistan, 3-1, this Saturday (27), in Atlanta.
In the other Group K clash, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Luís Diaz’s Colombia finished 0-0 in Miami and also qualified for the knockout stage.
Despite not being on the tournament’s list of newcomers, the African country didn’t even have that name when it played in its only World Cup, in 1974, as Zaire – it had three defeats, one of them 3-0 to Brazil.
With the results, DR Congo, Colombia and Portugal qualified for the knockout stage.
In the 32-team phase, Colombia will face Ghana on Friday (3), at 10:30 pm. Portugal will play against Croatia on Thursday (2), at 8pm. DR Congo will face England on Wednesday (1), at 1pm.
Colombia ended the group stage at the top of the group, with 7 points. Portugal was in second place, with 5. DR Congo had 4. Uzbekistan was in last place, with zero.
In the match between DR Congo and Uzbekistan, the African team got the better of it, but started worse.
The score was opened in the 9th minute by Uzbekistan, in an opportunistic move by striker Shomurodov. After the goal, the DR Congo team, which would guarantee qualification to the knockout stages with a simple victory, launched an attack.
In the first half, DR Congo stopped at Uzbekistan’s solid defense, but in the second half, they equalized the score with a penalty converted by striker Wissa and expanded on an opportunistic play: Mayele infiltrated between defenders and finished off goalkeeper Nematov. Wissa even scored one more, in stoppage time.
In the first half of the match between the South American and European teams, Colombia was superior and showed greater volume of play. The team was betting on speed to infiltrate the Portuguese defense.
With Cristiano Ronaldo and João Félix, as well as a talented midfield, Portugal posed little danger to the Colombian goal. The European team, which began to balance the match after 30 minutes of the opening stage, seemed satisfied with the draw.
In the second half, the scenario changed little. Colombia is looking to repeat its best campaign in World Cups, when it reached the quarterfinals in 2014. Portugal, eliminated in the round of 16 of the Qatar Cup in 2022, is trying to go further in this edition.
COLOMBIA X PORTUGAL
In the first half of the clash between the two best teams in Group K, Colombia was superior during much of the initial stage. With the personalities of Luis Díaz, Jhon Arias and Jhon Córdoba, the South American team created the main opportunities and had greater offensive volume.
In the first minute, Luis Díaz received the ball at the edge of the area and finished with a cross. The ball deflected off Rúben Dias and it was left for Córdoba to head over the crossbar.
In the 16th minute, in an individual play, Córdoba invaded the area and hit Diogo Costa hard, who made a great save.
Portugal started to balance the match after 35 minutes, taking advantage of the Colombian team’s drop in intensity.
At 38, after a play on the right, the ball fell to Bruno Fernandes, who finished for a good save from Camilo Vargas from close range.
After the break, Colombia continued to pose more danger. At 16 minutes into the second half, right-back Santiago Arias advanced from the right and crossed for Richard Rios, who hit it. The ball went close to the Portuguese goalpost.
At 20, in a new move on the right side, Santiago scored with Jhon Arias, who shot. The ball deflected into Portugal’s defense. The game remained even with a favorable result for both teams.
DR CONGO X UZBEKISTAN
Contrary to what the classification suggested, Uzbekistan were superior in the first half against the Democratic Republic of Congo and showed this from the beginning.
With just 24 seconds, the debutant team found the net, but Shomurodov was offside when he finished past goalkeeper Mpasi.
The pressure continued and paid off after nine minutes. The Congolese defense faltered, the ball fell to Shomurodov, who covered Mpasi and opened the scoring.
In the 16th minute, DR Congo equalized with Mbuku, but German referee Felix Zwayer signaled a foul at the beginning of the play and disallowed the goal.
Needing a victory to advance, the Congolese team pressed in search of a draw, but found a well-placed Uzbek defense.
In the first half, Congo stopped Uzbekistan’s solid defense, but in the second half, they equalized the score with a penalty converted by striker Wissa. In an opportunistic move, Mayele infiltrated the defenders and finished past goalkeeper Nematov. The score was closed with a new play by Wissa.
REMEMBER WHAT GROUP K WAS LIKE
A talented midfield, formed by Vitinha, João Neves, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, in addition to the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, placed Portugal among the teams considered favorites for the title.
The expectation, however, was not confirmed in the first round. In bureaucratic action, Portugal drew 1-1 with the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the other group game, Colombia beat Uzbekistan 3-1 in their debut.
In the other match, Colombia defeated DR Congo 1-0. The victory was enough to place the South American team at the top of the group and guarantee early qualification to the knockout stage.
In the second round, the Portuguese team entered the field against Uzbekistan under pressure from criticism and responded in style. They beat one of the tournament’s four newcomers 5-0, with two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the match with Congo, a slim 1-0 victory for Colombia, enough to put the South American team at the top of the group and qualify them for the knockout stages in advance.
