Camilo Vargas turned Selecao playmaker Bruno Fernandes’ close-range shot behind and Diogo Costa followed suit to deny Jhon Arias as Cristiano Ronaldo’s team finished the group stage on five points, two behind Colombia.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner ensured he had scored at six World Cup tournaments with two goals in Portugal’s 5-0 win over Uzbekistan on Tuesday, but teammate Joao Felix looked the likelier Portugal forward to score in Miami, shooting and heading over either side of the interval.
Defender Davinson Sanchez had a late header disallowed for offside for Colombia, who drew 0-0 at the finals for the first time in their history.
Colombia vs Portugal analysis: Ronaldo’s role
Ronaldo’s first goals at this edition were a partial riposte to critics of his performance in Portugal’s 1-1 opening draw with DR Congo.
One of Ronaldo’s former teammates at Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, accused Roberto Martinez’s players of not working sufficiently to make up for Ronaldo’s unwillingness to run back against Colombia.
“He’s not connected, really, with the team,” Rooney told BBC Sport, analysing Portugal’s tactics. “He doesn’t defend that much.
“He’s not joining in with his teammates. If he’s not doing that defensive work, the players around him have to do that work.
“[Lionel] Messi doesn’t get back but [his] Argentina [teammates] run and get back. Portugal can’t afford to have [Ronaldo’s teammates] not doing that.
“[Ronaldo’s] one of the best footballers of all time and, if you can create chances for him, normally he will score them.”
World Cup 2026: Portugal team vs Colombia
Portugal starting XI: Diogo Costa, Ruben Dias, Renato Veiga, Joao Cancelo, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Fernandes, Ruben Neves, Vitinha, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Pedro Neto
Portugal substitutes: Jose Sa, Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Tomas Araujo, Diogo Dalot, Goncalo Inacio, Samu Costa, Matheus Nunes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Neves, Goncalo Ramos, Francisco Trincao, Rafael Leao, Goncalo Guedes, Francisco Conceicao
World Cup 2026: Colombia team vs Portugal
Colombia starting XI: Camilo Vargas, Jhon Lucumi, Santiago Arias, Gustavo Puerta, Deiver Machado, Davinson Sanchez, James Rodriguez, Jhon Arias, Jefferson Lerma, Luis Diaz, Jhon Cordoba
Colombia substitutes: David Ospina, Alvaro Montero, Daniel Munoz, Yerry Mina, Johan Mojica, Willer Ditta, Kevin Castano, Richard Rios, Jorge Carrascal, Juan Portilla, Juan Quintero, Cucho Hernandez, Jaminton Campaz, Luis Suarez, Andres Gomez
World Cup 2026: Portugal vs Colombia stats
- Only Argentina (31) scored more goals than Colombia (28) in CONMEBOL qualifying. They scored more headers (7) than any other nation
- Lionel Messi (8) is the only player to have scored more than Colombia’s Luis Diaz (7) in South American qualifying
- James Rodriguez led the assist charts with seven, which was three more than any other player
- Colombia boss Nestor Lorenzo is at his first World Cup as a coach but is one of three managers at the 2026 tournament to have played in a final at the tournament, having featured for Argentina in the 1990 showpiece against West Germany
- Lorenzo guided Colombia to their first Copa America final in 23 years in 2024, losing after extra time to Argentina
- Since Portugal’s best ever World Cup finish – third place in 1966 – their only other semi-final appearance has been in 2006, exiting against France before losing the third-place match to hosts Germany
- Portugal are one of five European teams to have made an appearance at every World Cup
since 2002, alongside England, France, Germany and Spain - They have reached the knockout stage at four of the last five World Cup tournaments and scored in 10 of their last 11 matches at the finals, the exception being their 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Morocco in 2022
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to have scored at six World Cup tournaments and the only player – alongside Messi – to appear at six editions
- Selecao head coach Roberto Martínez is at his third World Cup as a head coach, having guided Belgium to a third-place finish in 2018 and a group-stage exit in 2022
- Martinez is the third non-Portuguese head coach to lead the team at the finals, after Brazilians Otto Gloria and Luiz Felipe Scolari
