Colombia 1-0 Congo DR: FIFA World Cup Match Report

Goalless at half-time, one goal after it: Colombia 1-0 Congo DR was the narrowest win of Group K and the match that put Colombia in control of it.

Colombia came in on three points from a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan; Congo DR on one from a 1-1 draw with Portugal that had already marked them as the group's most awkward opponent. The first half produced nothing, which is entirely consistent with what both sides' eventual group records suggest. Colombia finished with four scored and one conceded across three matches, Congo DR with four and three. Neither was a team that traded goals with anybody.

The single strike after the break was worth three points and, as it turned out, the group. Colombia's total attacking output in Group K came to four goals: three against Uzbekistan and this one. They did not score again, drawing 0-0 with Portugal in the final round, and still finished top. That is a group won on defensive record and on converting the one chance that mattered in the one match where the two best-organised sides met each other.

It took Colombia to six points and left them needing only a draw against Portugal to win the group, which is exactly what they got. They closed on seven with a plus-three goal difference, ahead of Portugal on five.

For Congo DR it turned the final matchday into a must-win, and they delivered — 3-1 against Uzbekistan, from 0-1 down at half-time, to finish on four points. That was not enough for second in a group this tight, but four points and a positive goal difference from a section containing Portugal and Colombia is a serious return. Uzbekistan finished bottom without a point, two scored against eleven conceded.

Our pre-match call was Double Chance 1X (Colombia or Draw) at 1.42. It won by the narrowest margin the market allows — a single goal in the second half of a match that had been goalless at the interval — and the insurance was genuinely live for at least forty-five minutes.

That is the honest reading of it. A 1.42 double chance implies the favourite is close to certain not to lose, and for half of this match Congo DR were as near to a result as Colombia were. The pick was right about the hierarchy in the group and right about the direction of the outcome. It was not right about how comfortable any of it would be, and Congo DR's four points from a group with two strong sides in it suggest the market underrated them from the start.

Verdict: won