Colombia beat DR Congo to reach World Cup knockout rounds
Colombia booked their place in the World Cup knockout rounds with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over DR Congo in Guadalajara.
Daniel Munoz's 76th-minute winner secured a second successive victory for Nestor Lorenzo's side and moved them to the top of Group K on six points, two clear of Portugal with one match remaining.
Portugal, who were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo in their opening fixture, had earlier thrashed Uzbekistan 5-0 in Houston, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice.
Backed by a sea of yellow inside the Estadio Akron, Colombia made a bright start and quickly began creating openings.
Munoz squandered an early chance before seeing an effort ruled out for offside, while James Rodriguez forced Lionel Mpasi into a superb save as Colombia looked to make their pressure count.
Mpasi continued to frustrate the South Americans, producing further stops to deny Johan Mojica and Luis Diaz during an impressive first-half display.
After weathering the early storm, DR Congo gradually worked their way into the contest and began to threaten on the counter-attack.
Mpasi was called into action again shortly after the restart, sticking out a leg to keep out Diaz and preserve the deadlock.
However, the breakthrough finally arrived 14 minutes from time.
Munoz made amends for his earlier misses when his strike took a deflection and wrong-footed Mpasi on its way into the net.
DR Congo continued to push for an equaliser and almost found one deep into stoppage time, but Camilo Vargas reacted sharply to turn Nathanael Mbuku's fierce effort behind.
The result sends Colombia into the knockout stage and leaves them well placed heading into Saturday's meeting with Portugal in Miami.
DR Congo, meanwhile, retain a slim chance of progressing ahead of their final group match against Uzbekistan as they continue their first World Cup appearance since 1974.
