{"id":508661,"date":"2026-06-24T09:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/508661\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T09:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:43:09","slug":"munoz-sends-colombia-into-world-cup-knockouts-with-1-0-win-over-dr-congo-world-cup-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/508661\/","title":{"rendered":"Munoz sends Colombia into World Cup knockouts with 1-0 win over DR Congo | World Cup 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"World<\/a><\/p>\n

Daniel Munoz\u2019s 76th-minute goal guided Colombia to a Group K win over DR Congo, sending them to the round of 32.<\/p>\n

Published On 24 Jun 202624 Jun 2026<\/p>\n

Daniel Munoz has fired \u200cColombia into the World Cup<\/a> round of 32<\/a> with a \u20601-0 win over the Democratic Republic of the \u2060Congo in Group K after goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi had threatened to turn the match into a night of frustration.<\/p>\n

Munoz struck the winner from the right \u2060side of the penalty area in the 76th minute on Tuesday, finally beating Mpasi, who had repeatedly denied Colombia with an inspired performance.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

Colombia, who opened their World Cup campaign with a \u20603-1 win over Uzbekistan<\/a>, commanded possession and created numerous chances.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerColombia\u2019s Daniel Munoz celebrates with Luis Diaz and Juan Quintero after scoring a goal [Raquel Cunha\/Reuters]<\/p>\n

James Rodriguez, making his 10th World Cup appearance to equal the Colombian record jointly held by Freddy Rincon and Carlos Valderrama, forced Mpasi into action with a powerful strike in the 11th minute.<\/p>\n

The goalkeeper stood firm, repelling efforts \u200cfrom Jhon Arias and winger Luis Diaz, who came close to breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute, controlling a chipped pass inside the penalty area, turning smartly, and firing a shot goal-wards, only for Mpasi to save it with his foot.<\/p>\n

The African side, buoyed by their opening 1-1 draw with Portugal<\/a>, threatened sporadically through Edo Kayembe, Cedric Bakambu and Yoane Wissa, but lacked a clinical finish.<\/p>\n

By half-time, Colombia had registered 15 \u2060shots, including six on target, with nine of their 10 \u2060outfield players attempting efforts.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerColombia\u2019s Luis Diaz has his shot saved by DR Congo\u2019s Lionel Mpasi [Raquel Cunha\/Reuters]<\/p>\n

In the stands, DR Congo had support from Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, the team\u2019s famous \u201cliving statue\u201d fan, who made his World Cup debut after missing the opener against Portugal because of Ebola quarantine requirements.<\/p>\n

Colombia resumed \u2060on the front foot after the break, with Diaz forcing another fine save from Mpasi in the 51st minute before Arias dragged \u2060the rebound wide.<\/p>\n

Wissa almost snatched the lead for DR Congo \u2060in the 73rd minute, when his shot from Simon Banza\u2019s assist was blocked, but Colombia struck shortly after through Munoz.<\/p>\n

Diaz later thought he had doubled the advantage with a finish into the top corner, only for the \u200ceffort to be ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n

Colombia moved to six points from two matches and guaranteed their progress to the knockout stage ahead of their final group game against Portugal, \u200cwho \u200cbeat Uzbekistan 5-0<\/a> earlier on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

DR Congo remained on one point and will need a result against Uzbekistan to keep their qualification hopes alive.<\/p>\n

\"SoccerDR Congo fan Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, also known as Lumumba Vea, in the stands during the match [Daniel Becerril\/Reuters]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniel Munoz\u2019s 76th-minute goal guided Colombia to a Group K win over DR Congo, sending them to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1911,4646,1914,4118,85,46,16632,1326,43,2224,105,101640],"class_list":["post-508661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-africa","tag-colombia","tag-democratic-republic-of-the-congo","tag-football","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-latin-america","tag-mexico","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-world-cup-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}