Fabio Cannavaro's Uzbekistan make their World Cup debut against dark horses Colombia in the early hours of Thursday morning UK time.
Having only been a stand-alone nation since 1990, Uzbekistan have finally qualified for a World Cup finals and, led by an Italian footballing icon, will hope to ruffle some feathers at their first tournament.
The White Wolves booked themselves a spot at the 2026 showpiece via a second place finish in Asian qualifying, which saw them lose just one of their 10 matches.
Their opponents, Colombia, are at their third World Cup in four attempts - after missing out in Qatar in 2022 - as they look to secure their best performance on the world stage.
Of their six World Cup tournaments to date, Colombia have reached the knockouts on three occasions, with their best record coming in Brazil in 2014, as they reached the quarter finals.
Los Cafeteros finished third in the South American qualifying to book their place at the 2026 tournament, finishing just a point behind second place Ecuador.
Uzbekistan v Colombia will be available to watch live in the UK on BBC One and BBC IPlayer.
Eligible customers in the UK, Ireland, Greece, Netherlands and Australia will also be able to bet on and watch the World Cup at bet365.
Uzbekistan v Colombia will be played at theMexico City Stadium in Mexico and kick-off is at 03:00 BST on Thursday 18th June.
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