We saw several global superstars tally up a lot of goals yesterday, only seems fair to see Cristiano Ronaldo try and follow up all the highlights from yesterday. Not to be outdone is World Cup hero James Rodriguez who will look to add to his legend on the world's biggest stage.
Then we have two newcomers. DR Congo has never technically never played in a World Cup under their current moniker but have one previous appearance as Zaire while Uzbekistan recent ascendency to Asian Cup quarterfinal regulars have seen them make their first ever World Cup.
Why a primer and not a preview? Because this is more of a handy reference guide than it is expert analysis. I did not watch or scout 32 international teams to prepare for the World Cup let alone 48 of them because I enjoy sleep and I am not apologizing.
TV SCHEDULE
Wednesday, June 17
Match 21: Portugal vs. DR Congo, 1 p.m. on Fox (Houston)
Match 24: Uzbekistan vs. Colombia, 10 p.m. on FS1 (Mexico City)
Tuesday, June 23
Match 45: Portugal vs. Uzbekistan, 1 p.m. on Fox (Houston)
Match 48: Colombia vs. DR Congo, 10 p.m. on FS1 (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Saturday, June 27
Match 69: Colombia vs. Portugal, 7:30 p.m. on Fox (Miami)
Match 70: DR Congo vs. Uzbekistan, 7:30 p.m. on FS1 (Atlanta)
GROUP K TEAM PRIMERS
Author's Notes: FIFA Rankings are from the November 2025 listing at the time of the tournament draw. Players international caps/goals are relatively accurate but may not include the recent warm-up friendlies as research for these articles started weeks ago. Abbreviations next to the country names should be their official Olympic code on the score bug and the Letter/Number is their draw position for the group schedule not their pot from the initial tournament draw. Warm up friendlies in the USA are noted otherwise vs/at indicates true home/away matches.
Sam Lattof
COLOMBIA [COL/K4]
Head Coach: Nestor Lorenzo (ARG)
FIFA Ranking: 13
Nickname: Los Cafeteros
Qualification: CONEMBOL (S. America) Third Place
Appearance: 7th
Best Finish: Quarterfinals (2014)
Roster Breakdown: 1 Domestic, 5 Argentina, 4 Brazil, 3 Spain, 2 Italy, 2 Mexico, 2 Portugal, 2 England, 1 Germany, 1 France, 1 Russia, 1 Turkey, 1 USA/MLS
Recent Matches: Friendly W vs Costa Rica 3-1, Friendly (San Diego, CA) W vs Jordan 2-0
Player To Know: F/M James Rodriguez, Minnesota United (USA/MLS), 126 Int’l Caps/31 Int’l Goals – An international legend whose club career has taken him just about everywhere the last few years, the 2014 WC Golden Boot winner tallied six times in that tournament but didn’t tally in the 2018 edition as Colombia were knocked out in the Round of 16.
Player To Watch: FW Luis Diaz, Bayern Munich (GER), 74 Int’l Caps/22 Int’l Goals – No, not the former New England Revolution winger, Diaz lead Colombia with 7 goals in qualifying (1 behind Messi for the Golden Boot) and had 26 goals across 51 games in all competitions for Bayern last season.
Tournament Outlook
Their last two World Cup appearances, Colombia won their group and got a knockout win over Uruguay in 2014. They absolutely should be able to go into their final group match against Portugal with a chance to win the group. If you’re looking for a quarterfinal darkhorse depending on how the breacket shakes out, Los Cafeteros would be a good shout.
Jake Catanese
DR CONGO [COD/K2]
Head Coach: Sebastien Desabre (FRA)
FIFA Ranking: 56
Nickname: Leopards / Guerriers de l'Équateur (Warriors of the Equator)
Qualification: CAF (Africa) Group B 2nd Place; Second Round Playoff Winners; FIFA Inter-confederation Playoff Path 1 Winners
Appearance: 2nd*
Best Finish: Group Stage (*-as Zaire)
Roster Breakdown: 5 France, 5 England, 3 Spain, 3 Greece, 2 Belgium, 1 Cyprus, 1 Egypt, 1 Armenia, 1 Poland, 1 Russia, 1 Scotland, 1 Turkey, 1 UAE
Recent Matches: Friendly (Liege, BEL) D vs Denmark 0-0, Friendly (Orleans, FRA) L vs Chile 1-2
Player To Know: DF Chancel Mbemba, Lille (FRA), 109 Int’l Caps / 7 Int’l Goals – The centerback and captain for the Leopards, Mbemba hasn’t seen a ton of action in Ligue 1 the last year or so but has over 30 international appearances since 2024.
Player To Watch: FW Cedric Bakambu, Betis (ESP), 70 Int’l Caps / 20 Int’l Goals – The veteran winger led DR Congo in goals in the qualifying group and gets to feature on the world stage before passing the torch to compatriot Yoane Wissa of Newcastle.
Fan to Watch: "Lumumba Vea"
🇨🇩 Congo Superfan fact file:
— Lea (@Lea_EFC) June 17, 2026
Name: Michel Nkuka Mboladinga
Nickname: Lumumba Vea
Michel has achieved global fame for standing completely motionless like a statue for the entire duration of his national team's matches. He stands upright, elevated on a platform, with his right… pic.twitter.com/2UdHHYRtKZ
Tournament Outlook
Finished two points behind Senegal in their qualifying group, then had to go through both Cameroon and Nigeria in the CAF playoff round before beating Jamaica in the win and you’re in game. While this is DR Congo’s debut under their current name, the will absolutely have a chance at three points and the knockouts if they can beat Uzbekistan.
Jake Catanese
PORTUGAL [POR/K1]
Head Coach: Roberto Martinez (ESP)
FIFA Ranking: 6
Nickname: Selecao das Quinas
Qualification: UEFA (Europe) Group F Winners
Appearance: 9th
Best Finish: Third Place (1966)
Roster Breakdown: 5 Domestic, 7 England, 4 France, 4 Spain, 3 Saudi Arabia, 2 Italy, 1 Turkey
Recent Matches: Friendly W vs Chile 2-1, Friendly W vs Nigeria 2-1
Player To Know: MF Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United (ENG), 89 Int’l Caps / 29 Int’l Goals – The Man Utd midfielder had a record breaking EPL season with 21 assists and has plenty of talented attackers to pass to in this Portugal setup.
Player To Watch: FW Joao Felix, Al-Nassr (KSA), 54 Int’l Caps / 12 Int’l Goals – There's a number of attackers we could highlight here, but we’ll highlight the other Al-Nassr player who has bounced around for a few seasona after leaving Atletico Madrid and had a 20 goal season next to Ronaldo.
Tournament Outlook
Got their first knockout win since a semifinal run in 2006 in the last World Cup before falling to the legendary Moroccans in the quarterfinals. The 2016 Euro champs probably think they should have a few more semifinal appearances, and this group has them set up well provided they can top Colombia. Topped their qualifying group over Ireland and Hungary but scored 14 of their 20 goals against Armenia and dropped points in two of the other four games.
Sam Lattof
UZBEKISTAN [UZB/K3]
Head Coach: Fabio Cannavaro (ITA)
FIFA Ranking: 50
Nickname: White Wolves
Qualification: AFC (Asia) Third Round Group A Runner-up
Appearance: Debut
Best Finish: N/A
Roster Breakdown: 16 Domestic, 4 Iran, 3 UAE, 2 Turkey, 1 England
Recent Matches:
Player To Know: FW Eldor Shomurodov, Basaksehir (TUR), 92 Int’l Caps / 44 Int’l Goals – Uzbekistan's all time leading scorer and active caps leader is actually on loan from Roma and has well over 100 caps in Serie A dating back to the 2020/21 season with Genoa.
Player To Watch: DF Abdukodir Khusanov, Manchester City (ENG), 27 Int’l Caps/0 Int’l Goals – Was a regular start two years ago for Uzbekistan and played in 37 games across all competitions for Man City this past year.
Tournament Outlook
The White Wolves drew both their games against qualifying group leaders Iran and had the best defense in AFC Group A allowing only seven goals. Maybe not as offensively potent as some of the other lower ranked Asian sides, keep an eye on Abbosbek Fayzullaev also out of Basaksehir who had four goals in qualifying. A win agaisnt DR Congo and a respectable goal difference number could give them a legitimate shot at the knockouts.
GROUP OVERVIEW
Portugal never get through the group stage at the World Cup cleanly, which is why I think this group should be ripe for the underrated but high enough octane Cafeteros attack to swoop in and claim the top spot. I still don't see either team having much issue in their first two games, this should be a fairly academic group.
That being said I am all for DR Congo and Uzbekistan causing havoc as even Colombia can concede a bit. A goal a game in CONEMBOL might not seem like a lot but compared to the rest of the top of the table it's a little high. We'll see if the two favorites are both carrying six points into their finale and how far back in goal difference the two underdogs might have to climb if either do claim a win against the other.
Third Place Advancement: Low (Uzbekistan)
GROUP PREDICTIONS
- Colombia 2. Portugal 3. Uzbekistan 4. DR Congo
