The guttural roar of tens of thousands of Colombian fans inside Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium was cut short in the cruellest fashion. Davinson Sánchez, rising at the back post in the first minute of stoppage time, had sent a looping header past Diogo Costa to apparently snatch top spot in Group K with a flourish. Then came the VAR review — a fractional offside, perhaps by the tip of a boot — and the goal was chalked off, preserving a 0-0 draw that still felt, for Colombia, like a victory.

The scoreless stalemate belied a contest of relentless thrust and counter-thrust. Néstor Lorenzo’s Colombia, already assured of progress, began as the more assertive side. Jhon Córdoba tested Costa with a fierce drive inside the opening quarter-hour, and Jhon Arias saw a goal-bound shot cleared from the line by Rúben Neves. James Rodríguez, in his record-extending 11th World Cup appearance for Los Cafeteros, conducted operations with typical guile, threading passes through the Portuguese midfield. Portugal, needing a win to leapfrog their opponents, grew into the half and came closest when Bruno Fernandes forced Camilo Vargas into a sharp reflex stop shortly before the interval. Cristiano Ronaldo, a peripheral figure throughout, sent a long-range free-kick straight at the keeper and later had a rolling finish rightly flagged for offside.

After the restart, the tempo scarcely dipped despite Miami’s humidity. João Félix headed over from a Diogo Dalot cross, while Colombia replied through Gustavo Puerta’s skimming effort that grazed the post. Costa, the Portuguese goalkeeper, turned in a man-of-the-match performance, flinging himself at shots from Jefferson Lerma and Arias, and in the dying minutes scrambling a dangerous cross off the toe of Luis Suárez. At the other end, the Colombian defence, marshalled by Sánchez and Lerma, held firm, leaving Ronaldo isolated and largely anonymous.

The result left Colombia on seven points, two clear of Portugal, with the Democratic Republic of Congo sneaking through as one of the best third-placed sides after a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan. Lorenzo, while celebrating top spot, warned that his team’s profligacy must be corrected before a last-32 meeting with Ghana. “We created many chances but in the knockout rounds, every missed opportunity can be fatal,” he said. For Roberto Martínez’s Portugal, the draw meant a trickier path: a last-32 tie against Croatia on 2 July in Toronto, where Ronaldo will face his former Real Madrid colleague Luka Modrić.

Colombia’s reward is a fixture against Ghana in Kansas City on 3 July, with a potential quarter-final against Argentina looming. The drama of Miami may yet prove a mere prologue.