Colombia beats DR Congo, tops Group K and reaches knockout stage

Daniel Muñoz settled a tense Group K match at Estadio Guadalajara, scoring the only goal as Colombia beat RD del Congo and locked up first place in the group. The 1-0 result in Match 48 sent the Selección Colombia into the knockout stage with one game still left on its official schedule.

The win mattered because it arrived under pressure, not comfort. Colombia had opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan, a game in which Luis Díaz scored one and created another, but RD del Congo came in after holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw and forcing its way into the group race. Yoane Wissa’s stoppage-time goal against Portugal had given the Congolese their first World Cup goal and their first World Cup point, a breakthrough that changed the stakes for the rest of Group K.

That backdrop gave Tuesday’s match a sharper edge. FIFA’s match preview noted that RD del Congo had returned to the World Cup after 52 years away, and the meeting with Colombia tested whether that resurgence could survive another disciplined opponent. Colombia answered with a narrow, controlled result that was enough to move it to the top of Group K and confirm a place in the round of 16.

The result also clarified the path ahead. FIFA’s official fixtures list had Colombia facing Portugal on 27 June in Miami, and the group table entering the day showed all four teams still tightly packed. Colombia’s job in Guadalajara was not to overwhelm RD del Congo with style, but to manage the match, take the one opening that mattered and protect it through the final whistle. That was the clearest sign yet that Colombia can win on a night when flair is not enough and the knockout rounds demand something harder to fake: composure under stress.