MEXICO CITY – Colombia arrived at the World Cup with dreams of redemption after missing out on Qatar in 2022. Although it was tense at times, the Cafeteros got off to a strong start.
Luis Díaz had a goal and an assist in his debut on soccer's biggest stage, sparking Colombia to a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday night.
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“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,” said Díaz, who plays for Bayern Munich. “We must improve.”
Daniel Muñoz, also playing in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 40th minute after a pass from Díaz, who scored the tiebreaking goal in the 65th when his strike from close range deflected off the hands of diving goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov and trickled across 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, which made its 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,” Lorenzo said. “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.”
With the White Wolves' defeat, three of the four debuting teams at this year's World Cup lost their first match. Cape Verde played Spain to a draw, while Curaçao and Jordan lost.
“For a small team like ours, to lose 3-1 is too much,” said Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro, an Italian who took over the team in October 2025. “We have good quality for an Asian team, but we need to grow. It was a good experience.”
Jaminton Campaz added a goal in second-half stoppage time for the Colombians, who are ranked 13th in the world and were heavy favorites over 50th-ranked Uzbekistan. Colombia's best World Cup finish was a run to the quarterfinals in Brazil in 2014.
“We needed to hit the ground running. Now we can enjoy the rest of the night,” midfielder Gustavo Puerta said.
Colombia moved atop Group K, ahead of Portugal and Congo, who played to a surprising 1-1 draw earlier Wednesday.
The Colombians will face Congo next Thursday at Guadalajara, Mexico, while Uzbekistan will take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal at Houston.
“We are going to play against a tough team that played great against one of the best teams in the world. It is going to be hard,” Lorenzo said.
Colombia finished third in South American qualifying behind Argentina and Ecuador. Uzbekistan was second in its Asian qualifying group behind Iran.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup