Colombia marked their return to the tournament after missing the 2022 edition with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan in a FIFA World Cup 2026 match in Mexico City on Wednesday.
Updated: June 18, 2026, 2:52 PM IST
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Colombia’s Luis Diaz in action against Uzbekistan in FIFA World Cup 2026 match in Mexico City. (Photo: IANS)
Uzbekistan vs Colombia FIFA World Cup 2026: Luis Diaz was playing his first-ever match on the grandest stage in the world of football at the age of 29. Diaz was making debut in the tournament in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group K match at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on Wednesday. He became the first-ever player from Colombia since 1962 to score a goal as well as an assist in the World Cup match.
Colombia were returning to the World Cup after missing out from the FIFA World Cup 2022 edition in Qatar and made a strong statement with a 3-1 hammering of Uzbekistan.
“That’s what we came here to do. It’s very important to win this first game. We controlled the first half, but they played better in the second. We must improve,” Díaz was quoted as saying by AP news agency.
Colombia’s Daniel Munoz, also playing in his first World Cup game, opened the scoring in the 40th minute after a pass from Diaz. The Bayern Munich star scored the tie-breaking goal in the 65th minute when his powerful strike from close range deflected off the hands of diving goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov to cross the line.
“We knew that it was going to be a tough match,” Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo said.
Fayzullaev Abbosbek scored in the 60th minute for Uzbekistan, who made their World Cup debut in front of a heavily pro-Colombia crowd of 80,824 at Estadio Azteca. “It is a wonderful joy, but emotionally, I think it weighed on some of the players who suffered physically. It has to do with the emotional burden generated by the opening match and the setting in which we played — especially since we were expected to take the initiative and were under pressure to win,” Lorenzo said.
Jaminton Campaz added a goal in second-half stoppage time for the Colombians, who are ranked 13th in the world and were big favorites against 50th-ranked Uzbekistan team. Colombia’s best World Cup finish was a run to the quarterfinals in Brazil in 2014.
Colombia moved to the top of Group K, ahead of Portugal and Congo, who played to a surprising 1-1 draw earlier on Wednesday. The Colombians will face Congo next Thursday at Guadalajara, Mexico, while Uzbekistan will take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal at Houston.
Caleb Yirenkyi strikes late to help Ghana edge Panama 1-0
Ghana kept it till the very last minute to close out a hard-fought win in the Group L clash of FIFA World Cup 2026 against Panama at the Toronto Stadium on Wednesday. Caleb Yirenkyi struck in the 95th minute to pip Panama in the contest.
Panama had the first chance to go into the lead as Amir Murillo’s low delivery found Cecilio Waterman but Ghana goalkeeper Benjamin Asare kept the attack at bay with a diving save.
The match was decided five minutes into the stoppage time when Thomas-Asante got loose on the left side and fired the ball across the goal mouth. Caleb Yirenkyi knocked it in to the jubilation of Ghana.
“Get the ball to the wings, and then put it in the box, and we get runs — people in the box to finish. I tried (to) just play forward and run forward, and then hope to see what comes in, and yeah, I got the ball in the box and finished,” 20-year-old Yirenkyi said after the match.
(How to watch and stream FIFA World Cup 2026 in India: Multiple group-stage matches that will take place simultaneously will be aired across Zee5 app and website. Link: https://www.zee5.com/)
