Columbia-Congo DR Preview: Can Congo continue to shut things down?

On Jun 23, 2026

Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros of The Cooligans break down the second match in Group K and explain why Columbia may need to get ‘streaky’ to get a win. Check out the full conversation on the “The Cooligans” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

Colombia’s, th- they’ve been interesting because they, obviously their, their, first game, not a, a super, a strong start.

but th- I mean, this is gonna be a very, very defensive game and because I, I think the, the, the, the focus is gonna be on, let’s stop L- Luis Daz, and, unless, you know, James is gonna be, a, an, an interesting piece here because he hasn’t been the, the, the James that we’re sort of used to seeing.

He’s playing a lot slower.

He’s just, he’s trying to just kind of ping the ball around, but when it w- when it comes to just, like, either defending or just being pacey around in, in the midfield, like, just that isn’t his game, so he’s a little bit of a, a defensive liability.

He’s been a defensive liability for the last, like, I don’t know, like five, six years.

So, the, the, Congo’s gonna give Colombia a difficult time, especially in this midfield.

Incredibly difficult, and look, w- I think the thing about Colombia that we’re not even talking about is that in order for them to win, they have to start to get streaky.

Sure.

You know what I mean?

That’s what they do.

They can Once they catch momentum, they can overwhelm you.

Luis Daz is very much a momentum player.

James Rodrguez, if he plays, can be a momentum player if he found the same peptides that Messi’s using.

You work for a peptide company?

I do.

I’m telling you, it’s, there’s, the only answer is either that- or he’s on the same thing Usain Bolt was.

but if James Rodrguez could dial back the clock even for 20 minutes- he can start to find, you know, some of these players, open, and you could see Colombia offensively overwhelm.

But Congo’s built to bend and not break defensively and to catch you in a moment of weakness, and they can absolutely do that for Colombia, who a lot of people had as a dark horse and really hasn’t put it together that way just yet.

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