Colombia are back at the FIFA World Cup after an eight-year absence, and Nestor Lorenzo’s side were too strong for debutants Uzbekistan.
Colombia made a winning return to the World Cup as Luis Díaz starred in a 3-1 victory over tournament debutants Uzbekistan.
The Bayern Munich winger scored and provided an assist for Daniel Muñoz‘s volley at Mexico City Stadium, where substitute Jaminton Campaz sealed all three points late on.
Back at the finals after an eight-year absence, Colombia quickly settled into their rhythm and went close in the 17th minute, when Jhon Arias flashed a 20-yard strike narrowly wide of the near post.
Nestor Lorenzo’s side went closer when Díaz struck the post in the 32nd minute. However, they made the breakthrough in spectacular fashion eight minutes later, with Munoz latching onto Diaz’s clipped ball into the box and volleying home on the turn.
Uzbekistan struggled to impose themselves on their World Cup bow, but equalised against the run of play on the hour mark.
Dostonbek Khamdamov kept an attack alive by crossing for Eldor Shomurodov, whose well-struck volley was blocked and ricocheted across the six-yard area, with Abbosbek Fayzullaev nodding into an empty net.
Fabio Cannavaro’s side were level for just five minutes, though, with a sweeping counter-attack culminating in Gustavo Puerta feeding Díaz, whose shot crept in beyond the weak palm of Utkir Yusupov.
Colombia put the contest beyond any doubt in the eighth minute of stoppage time, as Cucho Hernández did brilliantly to dig out a marvellous deep cross, which was nodded in by Campaz from close range, before Bekhruz Karimov rattled the woodwork at the other end.
Colombia Steal Early March in Group K
Following Portugal‘s draw with DR Congo earlier on Wednesday, both sides knew this was a chance to put distance between themselves and the group favourites.
Colombia always looked the side more willing to grasp that opportunity. They dominated the first half, with 72% of possession, but were lacking a cutting edge for large parts of it.
It was not until the 40th minute that they registered their first shot on goal, courtesy of Muñoz, who produced the kind of finish the likes of Díaz and James Rodríguez would have been proud of.
Muñoz has now scored four goals in his 47 appearances for Colombia, with each of his last three strikes coming in major tournaments.
Uzbekistan’s nervy start was highlighted by the fact they failed to record a single touch in the opposing box during the first half, making them the only side so far at this World Cup to do that.
At that point, they had registered an xG of just 0.02, but the White Wolves stunned everybody inside the stadium in the 60th minute. Their first touch in the opposing box led to their first World Cup goal, with Fayzullaev in the right place to earn the honour of scoring it.
The joy was short-lived, though, as sloppiness in the middle of the park was ruthlessly punished by Díaz, who became only the second Colombian to score and assist in a single World Cup match after a certain James against Japan 12 years ago.
Díaz also led the way with touches in the opposing box (six), total duels (12) and duels won (eight).
The former Liverpool flyer has been involved in a goal in each of his last six competitive appearances for Colombia (four goals, four assists), with the winger providing three assists across his last three matches in this run.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Uzbekistan vs Colombia stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group K meeting at Mexico City Stadium on 17 June.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Uzbekistan vs Colombia: Post-Match Opta Facts
Colombia are now unbeaten in their last four FIFA World Cup matches (W3 D1), equaling their longest undefeated streak in the tournament (W4 in 2014). They have only lost two of their previous 10 matches (W7 D1) dating back to 2014.
Countries from the AFC confederation have lost 13 of their 14 World Cup debuts – the only exception was Kuwait’s 1-1 draw against Czechia (then Czechoslovakia) in 1982. However, both Uzbekistan and Jordan scored on their debuts in 2026, a feat only achieved by Kuwait in 1982 and Saudi Arabia in 1994 (1-2 vs the Netherlands) among Asia’s debutants.
Uzbekistan were the first team to fail to record a single touch in the opposition box during the first half of a match at the 2026 World Cup. Their first touch in the opponent’s box came in the 60th minute, when they scored their first ever World Cup goal.
Luis Díaz is the first player in this year’s World Cup to have a goal, assist and hit the woodwork in the same match. He is also only the second Colombian player to score and assist in a FIFA World Cup match since records began in 1966, following James Rodríguez against Japan in 2014.
Luis Díaz has been involved in a goal in each of his last six competitive appearances for Colombia (four goals, four assists), with the winger providing three assists across his last three matches in this run, including setting up Daniel Muñoz against Uzbekistan.
Daniel Muñoz has now scored four goals in his 47 appearances for Colombia, with each of his last three strikes coming in major tournaments – two at the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa América and one in today’s World Cup match against Uzbekistan.
Jaminton Campaz scored Colombia’s third goal at 98:09, the latest non-extra time goal ever scored by Colombia in a World Cup match.
Colombia have scored before half-time in six of their last 10 World Cup matches. They have also won 10 of the 11 matches when they scored the first goal in the tournament (L1), with their lone defeat coming in their first ever World Cup match (1-2 defeat to Uruguay in 1962).
Uzbekistan’s manager Fabio Cannavaro has become only the fourth individual in history to have won a Ballon d’Or and participated in a World Cup as both a player and a manager, joining Franz Beckenbauer, Oleg Blokhin, and Marco van Basten in achieving this milestone.
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