Nick Seddon previews World Cup 2026 Group K, featuring Portugal, Columbia, DR Congo and Uzbekistan.
World Cup 2026 Group K Preview: Ronaldo aiming for golden swansong
He may have turned 41 in February, but Cristiano Ronaldo is still very much the main man for his national side. It’s debatable whether the veteran is anywhere near the force of old these days, but the World Cup is the only thing missing from his glittering CV.
Roberto Martinez is the man tasked with leading Portugal to glory, though he was often criticised for failing to make the most of a golden generation while in charge of Belgium, something he’ll be keen to rectify here.
If the stars align, we’re heading for a quarter-final clash between Portugal and Lionel Messi’s Argentina, a match-up that’s been years in the making on the international stage. Seleção das Quinas have work to do to get there and must first navigate a group including South American side Colombia and unfancied pair DR Congo and Uzbekistan.
World Cup 2026 Group K: World Rankings of each side
Portugal – Ranked 5th
Colombia – Ranked 13th
DR Congo – Ranked 46th
Uzbekistan – Ranked 50th
World Cup 2026 Group K Fixtures – Listed in UK time
Portugal v DR Congo, Wednesday 17th June (6pm), Houston
Uzbekistan v Colombia, Thursday 18th June (3am), Mexico City
Portugal v Uzbekistan, Tuesday 23rd June (6pm), Houston
Colombia v DR Congo, Wednesday 24th June (3am), Guadalajara
Colombia v Portugal, Sunday 28th June (12.30am), Miami
DR Congo v Uzbekistan, Sunday 28th June (12.30am), Atlanta
World Cup 2026 Group K: Team-by-Team Preview
Portugal are fancied to pip Colombia to top spot in Group K, ahead of Congo and Uzbekistan. We’ve taken a detailed look at each side for you below.
Portugal (1.41)
Portugal are the 7.95 fourth favourites to lift the trophy at the time of writing, having qualified for this comfortably. With this World Cup surely serving as a swansong for veteran striker Cristiano Ronaldo, they will be keen to impress, but the price feels short.
Roberto Martinez’s side won the Nations League last summer and rarely looked in trouble during qualification, with their only defeat coming at the beginning of Ireland’s Lazarus-like charge for the play-offs. We have seen this before, though, with Portugal falling short at the Euros after a strong campaign, a criticism which followed Martinez during his time at Belgium.
The tragic loss of Diogo Jota has cruelly taken away a world-class forward, but Portugal have plenty of bite around 143-goal Ronaldo and it may be that finding ways to reduce the veteran’s game time proves to be their biggest issue. Warm-up victories against the USA, Chile and Nigeria have left Seleção das Quinas in a good place, though a repeated question of Martinez across his managerial career has been his ability to deliver under pressure.
Portugal should navigate this group with the minimum of fuss, though later engagements will undoubtedly push the pressure up to an all-time high.
Colombia (4.40)
Colombia thrilled the globe when making the quarter-finals in Brazil 12 years ago and the core of that squad remains for this tournament, led by captain James Rodríguez.
Los Cafeteros have one of the oldest playing squads at the tournament as a consequence, with very little fresh talent coming through, though they arrive on the back of a qualifying campaign that ultimately saw them finish ahead of Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil. A run of six without a win briefly left them in trouble, until back-to-back victories over Bolivia and Venezuela assured their place.
Rodríguez is assisted by arguably the most dangerous winger in the world at present in Bayern Munich man Luis Díaz and Colombia are a match for anyone going forward. They conceded the most goals out of the South American sides at the tournament, however, a frailty that will likely be exploited by the better sides.
Surprisingly, Colombia have only made it out of the group on three previous occasions, but they ought to have too much for DR Congo and Uzbekistan. With the runners-up of this group pencilled in to play second place in Group D (USA, Australia, Türkiye and Paraguay), they may fancy their chances of an extended run.
DR Congo (14.10)
This will be Congo’s second appearance at the World Cup, with their first coming when identifying as Zaire in 1974.
Congo have rarely threatened to break their 52-year wait before now and they had to do it the hard way, negotiating the inter-continental play-offs in March. They finished a creditable second behind Senegal in their region, before needing extra-time to grind past Jamaica.
Their preparation hasn’t been the easiest, either, with the playing squad having to isolate for 21 days to secure entry to the US due to the Ebola outbreak. There are plenty of recognisable names within the line-up, though, including Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Yoane Wissa and they will be keen to avoid the wooden spoon.
Portugal and Colombia look formidable rivals as far as the world rankings are concerned, but Congo and Uzbekistan are very closely matched on that metric and both will be mindful that a victory on the final day could be enough to sneak third spot.
Uzbekistan (32.00)
Uzbekistan is perhaps best known for its prowess in combat sports, particularly in boxing at the Olympics, though they sealed a first World Cup berth relatively comfortably.
The draw certainly helped, with the White Wolves avoiding continental big hitters South Korea, Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia, but they navigated four games against Iran unbeaten and only lost once, to also-qualified Qatar.
Aside from Manchester City centre back Abdukodir Khusanov and İstanbul Başakşehir pair Eldor Shomurodov and Abbosbek Fayzullaev, this squad is based exclusively in the Middle East and Central Asia and they look up against it pitched against two heavyweights in Portugal and Colombia. World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro is at the helm and will have his side organised and tough to break down, though tight warm-up defeats to Canada and Netherlands are a sign of things to come.
Selections
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