Colombia v Ghana

Colombia’s opportunistic finishing at one end and organised defending at the other once again proves too much for their opponents, as the Cafeteros advance to the round of 16 for the third time in their history following a 1-0 win over Ghana at Kansas City Stadium. Misses from Puerta and Diaz, as well as a fantastic Ati Zigi save from Mojica, prevented Lorenzo’s side from widening the gap in the first half, but Arias’ first-time finish before the quarter-hour mark proved enough to seal the result. Diaz thought he had doubled his side’s advantage with two opportunities just before the hour, but a narrow offside call followed by a squandered one-on-one against the goalkeeper kept the margin of victory at one; more than enough considering Ghana failed to register a shot in the entirety of the 90 minutes, finishing with an xG of 0.26 (2.18 for Colombia). The straightforward victory sets the CONMEBOL side up for a meeting with Switzerland in Vancouver in the last 16, while Ghana’s World Cup - not for the first time - comes to an end at the hands of South American opposition. That concludes our commentary on the 2026 World Cup round-of-32 knockout tie between Colombia and Ghana – we hope you’ve enjoyed it!

FULL-TIME: COLOMBIA 1-0 GHANA

Rios chests the ball down after receiving a throw inside Ghana’s half and gets to the corner of the penalty area before driving a low shot towards the near post that requires an intervention from Ati Zigi, who parries it away before Opoku’s pass back with his chest gives the goalkeeper a chance to pick it up.

The fourth official indicates six minutes will be added to the end of the match.

Quintero takes a touch to set himself in the left channel before sending the bouncing ball to the back post for Rios, who attacks it over the back of Mensah - but the collision leaves the pair of players on the ground in need of a bit of attention.

90'

Substitution

Campaz came on and scored a late goal to double Colombia’s lead against Uzbekistan in their opening match, and he’ll be looking to do the same thing tonight as he enters the fray for Diaz as we head into added time.