Japan have held on to secure a stunning 2-1 victory over highly fancied Colombia in a gritty contest at Mordovia Arena.

The big news before kickoff was the absence of James Rodriguez, who was ruled out with a muscle strain and relegated to the bench. After such a blistering 2014 tournament, his omission looked set to be a major blow for the Colombians.

Japan were coming into the tournament as great unknowns. Having replaced their manager in the build up, there were big question marks on whether Akria Nishino could put together a competitive side.

Japan had the first chance on the counter, and had their wildest dreams come true as their shot on goal was stopped by the arm of Carlos Sanchez. A straight red card and a penalty inside the first five minutes saw Colombia's worst nightmares realised, and Shinji Kagawa made no mistake from the spot.

A goal and a man down, Colombia faced an almighty task to fight their way back into the contest.

Japan goalkeeper Kawashima was called into the action for the first time after Falcao flicked on a shot towards goal from a free kick, and it was easily dealt with. It was only early stages, but the signs were not encouraging for Colombia.

Japan looked threatening on the counter during the rest of the first half, as the South Americans struggled to deal with playing a man down in midfield and failed to track back to defend.

The contest was also proving a bruising one, as the referee let the game go and let both sides assert their physical presence.

Already having lost James to injury, Colombia's attacking stocks then took another hit as Juan Cuadrado was forced off due to a tactical switch.

Just before half time, Colombia were handed a dubious free kick in front of goal.

Juan Quintero stood over the ball and miraculously, his low shot somehow crossed the line to put his ten-man side level. Kawashima's positioning was called into question after he failed to save the attempt, getting his hands behind the ball after it had already crossed the line.

With both sides trading efforts in the second half, Colombia attempted to break the deadlock by bringing James off the bench.

Although Colombia had looked much better in the second half after their earlier tactical substitution, they could only hold on for so long, as Yuya Osako powered home a header from a corner to put his side ahead with 20 minutes to play.

Colombia kicked things up another gear, with James coming alive in the search for an equaliser, but the Japanese defence proved equal to the task.

Japan held on until the final whistle blew, as they secured a famous upset victory over their Colombian opponents, becoming the first Asian side to beat a team from South America at the World Cup.

World Cup - Group H

Colombia - 1 (Quintero 39')

Japan - 2 (Kagawa 6', Osaka 73')

Mordovia Arena, Saransk - 40,842