THE FOUR CORNERS

Group K The Four Corners One team from each of the four worlds that built this World Cup Portugal from Europe Colombia from South America Uzbekistan from Asia And DR Congo from Africa Of all twelve groups this is the only one with a clean split across every contesting confederation Four continents One group And every fixture inside it is a first-ever World Cup meeting

Here they are by the numbers Portugal FIFA ranked number six Roberto Martínez in charge The reigning Nations League champions and the clear heavyweight of this group Colombia Ranked thirteenth Néstor Lorenzo on the touchline Quarter-finalists in twenty fourteen and Copa América finalists in twenty twenty-four Uzbekistan Ranked fiftieth Fabio Cannavaro in command At the first World Cup in the nation's history And DR Congo Ranked fifty-sixth Sébastien Desabre in charge Back at a World Cup after fifty-two years away

Now the hook Four confederations One group Portugal carry the flag for UEFA and Europe Colombia stand for CONMEBOL and South America Uzbekistan represent the AFC the first Central Asian nation ever to reach this stage And DR Congo fly the flag for CAF and Africa the Leopards last seen as Zaire in nineteen seventy-four No two of these teams share a continent So there is no shared qualifying no continental-cup history nothing between any pair Four corners of the football world drawn into one group

These four nations carry the group And four key men will decide it Cristiano Ronaldo The captain Forty-one years old Al-Nassr Portugal's all-time most-capped player and top scorer with two hundred and twenty-six caps and a hundred and forty-three goals The highest men's international scorer in history This is his sixth World Cup and almost certainly his last Luis Díaz The winger Twenty-nine years old Bayern Munich after a seventy-five-million-euro move in twenty twenty-five Seventy-three caps twenty-two goals Colombia's talisman and their pace outlet fresh off fifteen goals in his first Bundesliga season Eldor Shomurodov The striker and captain Thirty years old İstanbul Başakşehir Uzbekistan's all-time top scorer with ninety caps and forty-four goals He led the line through the historic first qualification sealed in June twenty twenty-five Yoane Wissa The forward Twenty-nine years old Newcastle United after a fifty-five-million-pound move from Brentford in September twenty twenty-five The Leopards' marquee attacker who scored in the March qualifying window that carried DR Congo home

Now the story beneath the stars Two of these nations are at the very start of something Uzbekistan have never played a World Cup match in their lives DR Congo have not been to one in fifty-two years And the two giants carry the weight of golden generations that never quite won the big one Portugal have nine appearances and not a single final Colombia keep falling at the last step So when Ronaldo opens his sixth and final World Cup against the side returning from half a century in the wilderness every storyline in this group collides at once

Mark the dates Six matches two host countries and not one of them has ever happened at a World Cup before The seventeenth of June Portugal face DR Congo at NRG Stadium in Houston Around seventy-two thousand seats under a retractable roof Ronaldo's opener against the fifty-two-year returnees The same day Uzbekistan meet Colombia at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City Around eighty-seven thousand seats the largest venue of the tournament at over two thousand metres of altitude The debutants on the iconic stage The twenty-third of June Portugal play Uzbekistan back at NRG Stadium in Houston Portugal aiming to seal top spot The same day Colombia face DR Congo at the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara Around fifty thousand seats A likely decider for who chases second The twenty-seventh of June Colombia meet Portugal at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens Around sixty-five thousand seats The group-deciding heavyweight clash The same day DR Congo close against Uzbekistan at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta Around seventy-one thousand seats under a closing roof Two underdogs possibly for a place in the Round of Thirty-Two

Now the verdict And we are not doing this by squad value We are doing it by history Portugal win the group Two full tiers above the field on pedigree UEFA Group F winners who conceded just five First place Portugal Second is the real argument Colombia ahead of the two underdogs and not because of money Colombia were quarter-finalists in twenty fourteen and Copa América finalists in twenty twenty-four with knockout pedigree and a match-winner in Díaz Uzbekistan are debutants with zero World Cup history And DR Congo's only previous World Cup back in nineteen seventy-four ended with zero points zero goals and fourteen conceded Tournament experience separates Colombia from both Second place Colombia Then DR Congo third edging it on squad value and AFCON pedigree and Uzbekistan fourth as the rawest debutants But keep an eye on the romance If the Leopards beat Uzbekistan and steal a result off Colombia they leapfrog into second And if Cannavaro's set-piece debutants snatch a draw at altitude in the Azteca the whole group is rewritten Now we wait for the football