Yoane Wissa scored two goals on Saturday night in Atlanta as Democratic Republic of Congo staged a second half rally to beat Uzbekistan 3-1 and advance to the knockout stages at the World Cup for the first time.
Skipper Eldor Shomurodov scored Uzbekistan's first goal at a World Cup when he netted in the 10th minute.
The debutants kept the lead until mid way through the second half when they paid the price for a lack of discipline.
Abdukodir Khusanov hacked down Wissa in the penalty area and referee Felix Zwayer pointed to the penalty spot.
Wissa sent goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov the wrong way to equalise.
DRC return from the brink
Fiston Mayele added DRC's second in the 78th minute and Wissa scored his second of the game to seal DRC's passage to the second phase 52 years after their debut appearance at the World Cup.
"What's extraordinary is that this is a team that knows how to respond when we're struggling," said DRC head coach Sébastien Desabre.
The 49-year-old Frenchman added: "The players keep fighting no matter what twists and turns a match takes.
"Congratulations to them because they were fantastic. Of course, my staff too – we’re really proud and we’re happy for all Congolese people."
DRC opened the campaign with a 0-0 draw against Portugal on 17 June. Colombia beat them 3-1 six days later.
'Fear of winning'
But they redeemed themselves with the victory against a side that appeared to freeze when they held the advantage.
"The fear of winning crept in," Cannavaro said. "We went into the dressing room at half time and when we came back out I told them that we needed to keep raising the tempo and keep our defensive line higher.
"I told them how to play and what to do, because DRC were pushing their wing-backs higher onto our full-backs, which meant there was a lot of space to attack behind them.
"Instead, we kept coming short to receive the ball with our backs to goal, and in matches like this, 99 times out of 100 you lose the ball that way."
DRC will stay in Atlanta to face Group L winner England on Wednesday.
(With newswires)
