In a duel of heavyweights, finished off a 0-0 World Cup draw against Portugal to earn the top spot in Group K on Saturday at Miami Gardens, Fla., with an offside call preventing a potential late winning goal for the South American side.
Colombia (2-0-1, 7 points) were unable to score in the match despite relentless offensive pressure, taking 24 shots to 13 for Portugal (1-0-2, 5 points), who finished second in the group. Colombia logged a 6-2 edge in shots on target.
Camilo Vargas had two saves for Colombia in his second clean sheet of the tournament.
Colombia earned an extra day of rest by winning the group. They will face Ghana in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, after Portugal face Croatia in Toronto on Thursday. Both Colombia and Portugal had clinched advancement to the knockout round prior to the Saturday match.
Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo was in the starting lineup for the third consecutive group-play match but was unable to match his two-goal performance from a 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan on Tuesday. Diogo Costa recorded six saves for Portugal against Colombia.
Davinson Sanchez appeared to give Colombia a 1-0 lead in the first minute of second-half stoppage time when he scored on a header at the right post, but he was ruled offside on the play. The offside call was confirmed after a video review.
Two minutes later, Portugal’s Rafael Leao fired a shot untouched across the front of the goal that went wide.
Colombia pushed forward until the end with Gustavo Puerta putting a shot on goal in the 95th minute just before the final whistle.
Both teams went on the attack from the opening whistle with Colombia taking 14 first-half shots to nine for Portugal.
In the 39th minute, Portugal had a prime scoring chance when Bruno Fernandes fired a point-blank shot from just outside the 6-yard box that was saved by Vargas. Colombia’s best first-half scoring chance came in the third minute of stoppage time when James Rodriguez sent Costa to the ground to make a save.