Luis Díaz scored one goal and provided an assist on his debut on football’s biggest stage as Colombia secured a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan on Wednesday night in their World Cup opener.

Daniel Muñoz, also appearing in his first World Cup match, opened the scoring in the 40th minute after a pass from Díaz. Díaz then netted the decisive goal in the 65th minute when his close-range effort deflected off diving goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov and crossed the line.

Abbosbek Fayzullaev equalised for Uzbekistan in the 60th minute, marking the country’s World Cup debut in front of a largely pro-Colombia crowd of 80,824 at Estadio Azteca.

Jaminton Campaz added a late goal in stoppage time to seal the win for Colombia, who are ranked 13th in the world and were strong favourites against 50th-ranked Uzbekistan.

With the win, Colombia moved to the top of Group K, ahead of Portugal and Congo, who played out a surprising 1-1 draw earlier on Wednesday.

Colombia will next face Congo on Thursday in Guadalajara, while Uzbekistan take on Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, in Houston.

Known as the Cafeteros, Colombia returned to the World Cup after missing the 2022 Qatar edition. Their best performance came in 2014 in Brazil, when they reached the quarterfinals.

Colombia finished third in South American qualifying behind Argentina and Ecuador, while Uzbekistan secured second place in their Asian qualifying group behind Iran.