REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
In the end, Group H was decided by cruelly fine margins. Senegal toiled away against the group favourites in Samara and for long periods they were the better side.
But Yerry Mina's second-half header, from a Juan Quintero corner, was enough to give Colombia a narrow win which confirmed them as group winners.
Senegal were despondent at the final whistle, understandably so: they had impressed in their first World Cup appearance since 2002, coached by the tactically astute Aliou Cisse, and deserved more than to exit on the basis of fair play.
Colombia, though, were delighted. Victory for them means they will play one of England and Belgium, while Japan qualified as runners up despite having lost 1-0 against Poland.
Here are five things we learned from Colombia's win over Senegal: