Defensively sound in their Copa América (CA) opener vs Argentina (W 2-0), Colombia has now kept a clean sheet in each of their last four victories, although don’t bank on them getting the job done early – three of Colombia’s last six victories saw them drawing at the break.
Colombia manager Carlos Quieroz has an excellent unbeaten record after seven personal engagements with Qatar (W4, D3). Impressively, no Quieroz side has ever conceded a goal against the 2022 World Cup hosts in 454 minutes of football, winning by a 1-0 or 2-0 scoreline on each of the last four occasions.
Standing Group B:
| POS | TEAM | PLD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | QUALIFICATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Colombia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 | Advance to the knockout stage |
| 2 |  Paraguay |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 3 |  Qatar |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Possible knockout stage based on ranking |
| 4 |  Argentina |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
Massive underdogs for this clash despite a 2-2 draw against Paraguay in their first-ever CA match, Qatar may well still have a degree of confidence following a first Asian Cup triumph, and winning their first six matches of this calendar year ‘to nil’. Overall, Qatar has a record of W2, D3, L5 vs CONMEBOL opposition (1.9 goals conceded per match).
If using their form in friendly matches alone leading up to this clash, none of Qatar’s last six friendly defeats have seen them lose both halves. However, their 2-0 reverse in a warm-up against CA favourites Brazil means that their record against South American nations currently in FIFA’s top-30 stands at W0, D0, L3 (GF 0, GA 7).
Players to watch: Colombia’s Duvan Zapata has scored in his last two games after coming on as a substitute, both goals came after the 85th minute.
Qatar star Ali Almoez scored nine goals en route to their historic Asian Cup victory, doing so five times before half-time to help secure the golden boot.
Stat attack: The winning goal has arrived in the final 15 minutes in each of Colombia’s last two matches.
Both teams have scored in just one of Colombia’s last five matches.
Just two of Qatar’s last nine matches witnessed both teams score.
Will not play
Bacca C.
(Injury)
Borja M.
(Injury)
Muriel L.
(Injury)
Orejuela L.
(Injury)
Questionable
Barrios W.
(Injury)
Match Information
Referee: Herrera A. (Ven),
Venue: Estádio do Morumbi (Sao Paulo)
Other sources
Columbia vs Qatar Copa America 20.6.2019