FIFA U-20 World Cup
The win sealed Colombia's place in the Round of 16 while Japan's fate is still very much in their hands after Senegal and Israel played to a 1-1 draw in the group's other match.
Japan, who defeated Senegal 1-0 in their opening match, will advance even with a draw against Israel on Saturday should Senegal fail to defeat Colombia.
Just as they had done in their opening match against Israel, Colombia came from behind to win at the La Plata Stadium.
Japan broke the deadlock in the 30th minute from a corner kick routine straight off the training ground. After a neat exchange of passes with Sota Kitano, Taichi Fukui cut back a pass for Riku Yamane, who found the bottom corner.
The second half, however, was all about Colombia. Yaser Asprilla and substitute Tomas Angel had Los Cafeteros in front within the first 15 minutes of the restart with two close-range finishes at the end of patient build-up play.
The match ended dramatically with Japan captain Kuryu Matsuki hitting the crossbar on two occasions.
The first was from the penalty spot, after the Samurai Blue were awarded a spot-kick following an on-pitch VAR review by referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez, and the second from a glancing header.
In Group D, Nigeria registered their second successive win with a 2-0 defeat of Italy while Brazil bounced back from their opening day loss to beat Dominican Republic 6-0.
Thursday's action will see Iraq - defeated 4-0 by Uruguay in their opening match - aiming to keep their hopes alive when they face Tunisia in Group E.
Korea Republic, having defeated France 2-1, will hope to edge closer to the knockout stage when they play Honduras in Group F.
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Photos: FIFA via Getty Images
