The PuntHub view — Ronaldo's sixth
Ronaldo at 41, at a sixth World Cup, surrounded by the best squad of his international career. Portugal finally won something last year — the 2025 Nations League — and drew the kindest group of any top seed. The awkward question nobody in the camp will say out loud: is the captain still the right centre-forward? Whether Martínez has the nerve to answer it may decide their tournament.
Colombia are a proper side: settled, technical, at home in these conditions, and carrying a late-career James Rodríguez revival. Uzbekistan are debutants and DR Congo are back for the first time since they qualified as Zaire in 1974. The top two has a class gap. The order might not.
Verdict: Portugal and Colombia, comfortably.
Standings
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colombia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | W |
| 2 | Congo DR | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | D |
| 3 | Portugal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | D |
| 4 | Uzbekistan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 | L |