Portugal missed the chance to top Group K, playing out a thoroughly entertaining goalless draw with Colombia, which sees the Seleção finish runners-up to Los Cafeteros, who are now unbeaten after 90 minutes in their last four FIFA World Cup (WC) matches against European teams (W2, D2).
Buoyed by winning their first two games, Colombia started strongly, with Jhon Córdoba especially dangerous, as he headed just over before forcing Diogo Costa into a superb save from an acute angle. Córdoba’s namesake, Jhon Arias, then saw his shot expertly cleared off the line by Rúben Neves.
Portugal eventually grew into the first half, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s first sight of goal saw him take on a free kick from distance that Camilo Vargas got behind with relative ease. However, the Colombian goalkeeper’s credentials were on full display when he showed cat-like reactions to stop Bruno Fernandes from close range, before João Félix’s acrobatic effort looped just over. At the other end, Costa had to be alert to parry away James Rodríguez’s strike, rounding off an entertaining, yet goalless half.
Plenty of chances were shared early in the second half too, as Félix headed over from a promising position and Jefferson Lerma shot straight down Costa’s throat. Colombia started to grab a foothold, and substitute Richard Ríos would have been disappointed to find the wrong side of the post from Rodríguez’s cutback. Costa was then called into action again to palm away Arias’ deflected strike, as Los Cafeteros continued to probe for a breakthrough.
Colombia had scored after the 75th minute in four of their previous five games, and they looked the most likely to find a late winner as they peppered the Portuguese goal, with Davinson Sánchez even having a goal disallowed for the most marginal of offsides in stoppage time. As a result, the South Americans hold onto top spot in the group, setting up a Round of 32 match with Ghana. Meanwhile, Portugal may have extended their unbeaten record against CONMEBOL opposition in WC group games to four (W2, D2), but it wasn’t enough to climb above Colombia, meaning Roberto Martínez’s side will play Croatia in the next round.
