Luis Diaz sparks Colombia to a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan

Colombia arrived at the World Cup with dreams of redemption after missing out on Qatar in 2022. Although it was tense at times, the Cafeteros got off to a strong start.

Luis Diaz had a goal and an assist in his debut on soccer's biggest stage, sparking Colombia to a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan on Wednesday night.

"That's what we came here to do. It's very important to win this first game. We controlled the first half, but they played better in the second," said Diaz, who plays for Bayern Munich. "We must improve."

Daniel Munoz, also playing in his first World Cup, opened the scoring in the 40th minute after a pass from Diaz, who scored the tiebreaking goal in the 65th when his strike from close range deflected off the hands of diving goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov and trickled across the line.

"We knew that it was going to be a tough match," Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo said.

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Fayzullaev Abbosbek scored in the 60th minute for Uzbekistan, which made its World Cup debut in front of a heavily pro-Colombia crowd of 80,824 at Estadio Azteca.

"It is a wonderful joy, but emotionally, I think it weighed on some of the players who suffered physically," Lorenzo said. "It has to do with the emotional burden generated by the opening match and the setting in which we played — especially since we were expected to take the initiative and were under pressure to win."

With the White Wolves' defeat, three of the four debuting teams at this year's World Cup lost their first match. Cape Verde played Spain to a draw, while Curacao and Jordan lost.

"For a small team like ours, to lose 3-1 is too much," said Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro, an Italian who took