Luis Diaz stars in Colombia win over Uzbekistan
The Colombian national team opened their 2026 World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan with Luiz Diaz running the show at the Mexico City Stadium.
After both teams settled into the game Colombia took the lead in the 40th minute when Daniel Muñoz opened the scoring with a precise, finish after a brilliant assist from Díaz to put the scores at 1-0.
However, Uzbekistan rallied back to make it 1-1 when Abbosbek Fayzullaev made history by scoring his country’s first-ever goal at a FIFA World Cup, when he tapped a rebound after an initial shot by Eldor Shomurodov.
Luiz Diaz took matters into his own hand when he quickly restored his team’s advantage with a goal in the 65th minute after capitalising on an error by the Uzbek goalkeeper.
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Colombia put the game beyond Uzbekistan deep into stoppage time when substitute Jaminton Campaz sealed the victory with a header after a late counter-attack assisted by Cucho Hernández on 90+9 minute.
The keenly contested game saw Colombia take control of the Group K after Portugal and DR Congo played out a 1-1 draw earlier in the day.
Colombia will play its next group game against DR Congo on Tuesday, June 23, while Uzbekistan will square up against Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal on the same day.
