Three goals – one in the first half and two in the second – ensured Colombia defeated Poland and still stand a chance of getting through to the second round of the 2018 World Cup.

It did not look like a 3-0 encounter until the 40th minute when Yuri Mina, on for his World Cup debut, scored a header to put the South Americans ahead.

As much as Adam Nawalka’s men dominated the ball, they were unable to carve out scoring opportunities for Robert Lewandowski, who is yet to get off the mark in Russia despite a reputation as a goal scorer in the Bundesliga.

A defence-splitting pass from Quintero released Radamel Falcao into a one-on-one with Wojciech Szczesny in the 70th minute and the Monaco forward made no mistake, sliding the ball past the goalkeeper to give Colombia a two-goal lead.

It was bedlam in the Kazan Stadium as they definitely had more fans decked in the yellow of Colombia. Two Colombian greats were also on hand – Rene Higuita and Carlos Valderrama – to give their backing to the team.

The third arrived five minutes afterward as Rodriguez split the Polish defence with an exquisite pass that released Juan Cuadrado, who ran almost 30m before sliding the ball inside Szczesny’s left post. It was game over. Colombia march on but Poland are knocked out.