2026 FIFA World Cup Group K
FIFA World Cup group
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Group K of the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place from June 17 to 27, 2026.[1] The group consisted of Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, and Colombia.
Colombia secured their advancement to the round of 32.[2] after two group game wins, and would top the group after earning a draw against Portugal. Portugal also advanced as group runners-up, after a crucial victory against Uzbekistan.
Although DR Congo failed to win their first two matches, a victory over Uzbekistan allowed them to finish third in the group and advance as one of the best third-place teams.[2] Uzbekistan finished fourth and were eliminated, losing all three of their group games.
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings[3][4] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025[nb 1] | June 2026 | |||||||||
| K1 |  Portugal | 1 | UEFA | UEFA Group F winner | November 16, 2025 | 9th | 2022 | Third place (1966) | 6 | 5 |
| K2 |  DR Congo | 4[nb 2] | CAF | Inter-confederation playoff Path 1 winner | March 31, 2026 | 2nd | 1974 | Group stage (1974) | 56[nb 2] | 46 |
| K3 |  Uzbekistan | 3 | AFC | AFC third round Group A runner-up | June 5, 2025 | 1st | — | — | 50 | 50 |
| K4 |  Colombia | 2 | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL round robin third place | September 4, 2025 | 7th | 2018 | Quarterfinals (2014) | 13 | 13 |
Notes
- The rankings of November 2025 were used for seeding for the final draw.[5]
- As the identity of the inter-confederation playoff Path 1 winner was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the FIFA Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into pot 4.[5]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombia |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Portugal |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 5 | |
| 3 | DR Congo |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Uzbekistan |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0 |
In the round of 32:[2]
- The winner of Group K, Colombia, advanced to play the third-place team of Group L, Ghana.
- The runner-up of Group K, Portugal, advanced to play the runner-up of Group L, Croatia.
- The third-place team of Group K, DR Congo, advanced to play the winner of Group L, England, as one of the eight best third-place teams from the group stage.
Matches
All times listed are local.[1]
Portugal vs DR Congo
The two teams had never met before.
This match marked the country's first time competing under the name DR Congo, having previously appeared as Zaire in 1974. It was also the first match to be played within the vicinity of a tropical cyclone (Tropical Storm Arthur), but it was unaffected.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo matched Argentina's Lionel Messi by playing in a sixth World Cup finals, and also become the oldest outfield player to start a World Cup match at the age of 41 years and 132 days.[6]
Portugal went in front in the 6th minute when João Neves headed to the right corner after a cross from the left by Pedro Neto. In time added on in the first half, it was 1–1 when Yoane Wissa headed to the left of the net from six yards out after a cross from the right by Arthur Masuaku, the goal was DR Congo's first-ever World Cup final's goal.[7]
| Portugal | 1–1 | DR Congo |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 1] |
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          Portugal[8]
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     DR Congo[8]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[8]
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Uzbekistan vs Colombia
The two teams had never met before. It was the first time since May 12, 2002 that Colombia returned to the pitch of the Azteca having lost a friendly match there to Mexico 2–1. The fixture marked Uzbekistan's debut at the FIFA World Cup.
In the 40th minute, Daniel Muñoz put Colombia in front when he scored with a volley from six yards out, connecting with a pass over the top from Luis Díaz. Abbosbek Fayzullaev made it 1–1 in the 60th minute when he headed into an empty net from close range after Colombian goalkeeper had parried a shot from Eldor Shomurodov on the right. The goal was Uzbekistan's first-ever goal at a World Cup finals.[10] Colombia went back in front five minutes later when Luis Díaz scored with a low finish to the right corner. In the 9th minute of added time, substitute Jaminton Campaz made it 3–1 when he headed to the left corner of the net from six yards out after a cross from Cucho Hernández on the right.[11]
Abdukodir Khusanov received a yellow card for a tackle on Luis Díaz that caused him to collide with a pitch-side camera operator. The match was briefly paused while medical staff attended to the cameraman, who was taken to the hospital as a precaution but escaped serious injury. Following the match, Khusanov sent a signed match jersey with a written apology to the operator.[12]
| Uzbekistan | 1–3 | Colombia |
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[Report 2] |
   Uzbekistan[13]
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     Colombia[13]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[13]
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Portugal vs Uzbekistan
The two teams had never met before.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in the first half, becoming the first player to score in six FIFA World Cup tournaments.[14]
This fixture was the second-largest defeat suffered by an Asian team during the tournament's group stage, following Qatar's 6–0 loss to Canada and tied with Iraq's 5–0 loss against Senegal 3 days later.
Portugal[15]
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Uzbekistan[15]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[15]
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Colombia vs DR Congo
The two teams had never met before.
In the 76th minute, Daniel Muñoz scored the only goal of the game with a low finish from the right that was deflected and went in at the near post.[16]
| Colombia | 1–0 | DR Congo |
|---|---|---|
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[Report 4] |
    Colombia[17]
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DR Congo[17]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[17]
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Colombia vs Portugal
The two teams had never met before.
Both teams struggled to make goals from either side, with Cristiano Ronaldo missing his shots throughout. In the end, both teams finished with a 0–0 draw, with Diogo Costa earning Man of the Match for his consistent performance.
  Colombia[18]
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Portugal[18]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[18]
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DR Congo vs Uzbekistan
The two teams had never met before.
Uzbekistan scored an early lead against the determined DR Congo team by Eldor Shomurodov in the first half, though a costly mistake in the second half resulted in Yoane Wissa to score an equalizer. Additional goals by Fiston Mayele and Yoane Wissa secured DR Congo's spot in the knockout phase for the first time ever.
For Uzbekistan, three straight defeats meant they were eliminated from the group stage alongside fellow debutant Jordan, who also went winless with three straight defeats in their group.
| DR Congo | 3–1 | Uzbekistan |
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| [Report 6] |
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    DR Congo[19]
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Uzbekistan[19]
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Man of the Match:
Assistant referees:[19]
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Discipline
The team conduct ("fair play") score would have been used as a tiebreaker if the head-to-head and overall records of teams were tied. It would also be used as a tiebreaker for the third-place ranking between groups if the overall records of teams were tied. The score was calculated based on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches as follows:[2]
- yellow card: −1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- direct red card: −4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Only one of the above deductions could be applied to a player or team official in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Score | |||||||||
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| Colombia |
1 | 2 | 1 | −4 | |||||||||
| Portugal |
3 | 1 | −4 | ||||||||||
| Uzbekistan |
1 | 1 | 2 | −4 | |||||||||
| DR Congo |
1 | 1 | 3 | −5 | |||||||||