One slight adjustment gave Colombia the edge over Uzbekistan and unlocked what was a tough game until then.
The White Wolves resisted bravely for around 40 minutes. But the Cafeteros’ individual brilliance eventually swinged the match in their favour after Luis Diaz picked out an excellent pass to find Daniel Munoz for the opener.
For a brief period in the second half, though, it looked like the debutants had a chance to get something out of the game. A terrible mistake from goalkeeper Camilo Vargas allowed Abbosbek Fayzullaev to pass the ball into an empty net and equalise momentarily.
But Diaz once again put his nation in front just five minutes later. Then, Jaminton Campaz sealed the deal in stoppage time. Here’s how it all unfolded at the Azteca.
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How did Colombia unlock a disciplined Uzbekistan defence?
Mundane first 20 minutes
As expected, Colombia dominated the actions against Uzbekistan. Manager Nestor Lorenzo went with a surprisingly attacking configuration, using former Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Jhon Arias as a centre-midfielder.
The idea was to have him close to Luis Diaz on the left-hand side of the pitch. Meanwhile, James Rodriguez acted as a wide playmaker drifting inside from the right. It also meant that Munoz had attacking freedom and the whole right flank for himself.
But the Colombian forwards performed a lot of moves to play in close proximity and drop deep near the ball. Striker Luis Suarez was the only one trying to stretch Uzbekistan’s defensive line but struggled on his own against three central defenders.
As a result, the Cafeteros had plenty of possession and bodies in the attacking half, mostly down the central corridor, but little movement to test a disciplined and organised Uzbek defence.
However, as the momentum chart shows, things changed in the second half of the first half. And there is a tactical reason for that uptick in attacking presence.
Aggressive approach coming out of the hydration break
After the hydration break, Colombia seemed to have more emphasis on getting players running in behind. In the 32nd minute, Luis Diaz hit the post after getting on the end of a beautiful Arias through ball.
Less than 10 minutes after that, Munoz went off-script and charged forward like a true number nine. It was his ‘wild’ decision that put them ahead.
And those were the only two times the Cafeteros managed to break through White Wolves’ defensive line in the whole game. While it does say a lot about their approach coming out of the hydration break, it also shows how they gave up a little bit in the second half.
Flirting with danger
Colombia changed completely after going 1-0 up. There was no rush or will to get anything else other than waste time and see the game out. They felt comfortable dropping their lines deeper and trusting Uzbekistan’s lack of technique and creativity.
But doing this while having James on the pitch and Arias as a centre-midfielder has a lot of risks. And when the White Wolves finally stopped looking for long through passes for their forwards to run into space and instead tried using Eldor Shomurodov as a target man up front to hold the ball, everything clicked.
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Of course, Camilo Vargas’ unforgiveable error made it all happen and Fayzullaev equalised. But Nestor Lorenzo saw the risk and decided to take it anyway.
Their sudden change in approach right after conceding proved that they had just let go of the rope for a few minutes. Arias and Gustavo Puerta both pressed Shomurodov who had dropped way too deep and won the ball back to find themselves in a 5v3 situation. Puerta then found Diaz who put the Cafeteros in front once more.
But Lorenzo, again, retracted his team after regaining the lead. They averaged 73% possession while drawing, as opposed to just 52% while ahead. It made for a nervy final 15-20 minutes before Campaz scored a header to make it 3-1.
Colombia created much more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities than Uzbekistan (4-1 to be exact) and deserved to win. Still, there is a world in which this game ends like Qatar vs Switzerland, because it felt like the same script.
But it all worked out in the end for the South Americans who kick off their 2026 World Cup campaign with a win after missing out on the 2022 edition.
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