Colombia reached the last 16 of the World Cup for the third time in their last three appearances at the tournament with a 1-0 win over Ghana.
Los Cafeteros reached the quarter-finals at Brazil 2014 and the last 16 in 2018.
Nestor Lorenzo’s side will now face Switzerland in Vancouver on July 7, with a place in the quarter-finals, against either Argentina or Egypt, on the line.
Former Wolves forward Jhon Arias scored the winner in Kansas City
An unwanted piece of history was made early on in Kansas City, with both sides forced into changes after injuries to Colombia’s Jhon Cordoba and Ghana’s Marvin Senaya. No World Cup match on record had ever seen both teams make changes before the 15th minute.
That did not disrupt the flow of the game, however, and shortly after the second change, Colombia struck. Cordoba’s replacement Luis Suarez curled in a cross from the right, which the untracked Jhon Arias – formerly of Wolves – was able to guide home.
They should have added to their lead before the break, but Luis Diaz struck just wide after a rapid counter, before Suarez headed past the opposite post and Johan Mojica’s header was brilliantly clawed away by Lawrence Ati Zigi.
Just before the hour mark, Colombia celebrated a second when Luis Diaz slid in to convert a cross from Crystal Palace’s Jefferson Lerma, only for the assistant referee’s flag to raise his flag for offside.
Diaz, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Fernando Quintero each had further chances to extend the lead, but against a toothless Ghana attack, that slender advantage never looked under threat.
The key moments in Kansas City…
- 1: SHOT! Ghana’s Thomas Partey tests the water with a shot from 25 yards that whistles just wide.
- 8: SUB! Colombia’s Jhon Cordoba taken off injured. Luis Suarez replaces him.
- 13: SUB! Ghana’s Marvin Senaya also goes off injured. Alidu Seidu comes on.
- 14: GOAL! Jhon Arias opens the scoring after being picked out by Suarez’s cross.
- 45+1: SAVE! Crucial stop from Ghana’s Lawrence Ati Zigi to claw away Johan Mojica’s header.
- 57: GOAL DISALLOWED! Diaz slides in Jefferson Lerma’s cross, but he’s flagged offside.
Analysis: Colombia need to show more going forward – and Quintero could be key
Juan Fernando Quintero created five chances despite coming on after 72 minutes
Sky Sports’ Dan Long:
After Jhon Arias scored what proved to be the winner for Colombia in the first 15 minutes, Nestor Lorenzo’s side looked sharp. Ghana’s low block had served them well in the group stages, but it seemed the dominant Colombians would have more than enough to put the game to bed.
But, despite generating 2.19 xG, the second goal just never arrived.
It was not an issue, in the end, as Ghana offered precious little going forward, but against stronger opposition, they could well be punished for not taking their chances.
Lorenzo may well look into bringing in Juan Fernando Quintero to remedy that. The 33-year-old – who plays his club football in Argentina with River Plate – replaced Arias after 72 minutes, but was Colombia’s biggest threat.
He had 24 touches, did not misplace a single one of his 19 passes and created five chances – the most of any player on the pitch. He almost scored a contender for goal of the tournament, too, but, fortunately for Ghana, his rocket flew wide of the right-hand post.
A starting spot in Vancouver could well be in the offing.
