Colombia secured an important 3-0 (1-0) victory to leave their Group H fate in their own hands, while Poland’s 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ adventure will come to an end after the group stage.

Both teams came into this match under pressure after suffering defeats in their respective openers. The tension was palpable, with both sides starting tentatively and neither wanting to fall behind in front of a sell-out crowd of 42,837 at the Kazan Arena. The first real chance came in the 40th minute, when the consistently lively James Rodriguez crossed the ball into the penalty area for Yerry Mina to nod home.

The Biało-czerwoni were forced to throw caution to the wind in the second half, creating counterattacking space for their South American opponents in the process. The best opportunity for an equaliser fell to Robert Lewandowski, but his close-range effort was denied by the onrushing David Ospina. In the 70th minute Juan Quintero played a dream pass to Falcao, who stroked the ball past Wojciech Szczesny with the outside of his boot to double Colombia’s advantage. Juan Cuadrado made it 3-0 just a few minutes later to put the result beyond doubt, courtesy of another assist from James.