Colombia took a major step toward the knockout stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after securing a hard-fought 1-0 victory over DR Congo in Guadalajara. The South Americans dominated possession and created the better chances throughout the match, but Lionel Mpasi delivered an exceptional performance to keep the Leopards in contention.
The Congolese goalkeeper denied James Rodríguez, Luis Díaz and G. Puerta on several occasions, while Daniel Muñoz also had an early goal ruled out for offside as the teams went into halftime level at 0-0.
The second half followed a similar pattern as Colombia continued to push for the breakthrough while DR Congo remained disciplined defensively and looked to threaten on the counterattack through Yoane Wissa and Cédric Bakambu. Despite another resilient display from the Leopards, the 2026 FIFA World Cup encounter eventually tilted in Colombia’s favour as Mpasi’s outstanding saves could no longer keep the Cafeteros at bay.
The decisive moment arrived in the 76th minute when Daniel Muñoz burst into the penalty area and saw his left-footed strike take a slight deflection before beating Mpasi. Colombia later had another goal disallowed for offside, but Camilo Vargas preserved the narrow advantage with a crucial late save from Simon Mbuku before confidently dealing with Chancel Mbemba’s stoppage-time header. The victory sends Colombia into the Round of 32, while DR Congo must now earn a positive result in its final Group K fixture to keep its hopes alive at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
