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Colombia have secured their last-16 place after beating Ghana 1-0 in the final round-of-32 match.
Jhon Arias gave the South Americans the lead with a lovely, cushioned finish from close range in the 14th minute. Luis Diaz thought he had doubled the lead after finishing off a brilliant passing move, but he was denied by the assistant referee's flag.
The single goal was enough for Colombia to progress as Ghana offered very little in attack, failing to have a shot on target in the match.
Colombia will face Switzerland in the last 16 in Vancouver on Tuesday.
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Colombia have now progressed from a World Cup knockout round for just the second time in their history, following that 2-0 win over Uruguay in the 2014 round of 16.
They did it tonight with something they’ve never managed before too: three straight clean sheets, a run in which goalkeeper goalkeeper Camilo Vargas has had almost nothing to do — three saves across three games, and not a single one today.
The xG told the story of their dominance tonight: Colombia tallied 2.19 against Ghana, their highest in a knockout match on record and second only to that 2014 side.
Ruthless at one end would have made it a rout; watertight at the other made it more than enough.
So Colombia march on to a round of 16 tie with Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesda, and it promises a proper clash of styles.
Both are through on the back of controlled, professional wins — the Swiss seeing off Algeria 2-0 yesterday — and both will fancy their chances of a last-eight spot that neither reaches often.
Expect a tactical tug-of-war: Colombia’s aggressive, all-in high press and chaotic but dangerous attack against a Swiss side that’s happiest sitting deep, staying compact and springing on the counter — exactly the shape that frustrated Algeria’s possession game.
The warning for Nestor Lorenzo is the one that shadowed his team tonight: create plenty but be far more clinical, because Switzerland won’t gift you as much as Ghana did.
Two well-drilled sides, one place in the quarters. This should be a decent one.
Luis Suarez came on in the eighth minute after Jhon Cordoba’s match-ending injury, and set up Colombia’s opener in the 14th minute — the earliest goal contribution by a substitute in World Cup history, and a cameo that had barely begun before it had already decided the game.
His pass teed up Jhon Arias for Colombia’s second-earliest goal at a World Cup (13 minutes 49 seconds), bettered only by Pablo Armero against Greece in 2014.
The early frenzy didn’t end there. This was the first World Cup match ever in which both teams made a substitution before the 15th minute, after Ghana’s Marvin Senaya also had to be replaced through injury.
And a footnote on the veterans, a recurring theme of this World Cup: Colombia’s XI was the second-oldest starting line-up in World Cup knockout history at 30 years 344 days — behind only Cape Verde’s line-up against Argentina earlier today.
An historic World Cup for African teams has unfortunately come to a crashing halt in the round of 32.
Africa saw nine teams through to the knockout stage, but none of them was able to produce an actual win after either 90 or 120 minutes.
There were still positives signs of course, the most obvious being Morocco and Egypt advancing after penalty shootouts against the Netherlands and Australia respectively. Both teams will feature in the round of 16.
There were also close calls. Belgium needed a stunning late comeback to get past Senegal, while debutants Cape Verde went toe-to-toe with reigning champions Argentina in a World Cup classic that will be remembered for generations.
Co-hosts Canada also needed a stoppage-time winner to get past South Africa, while Ivory Coast and DR Congo provided late scares for Norway and England.
The numbers are unkind to Ghana. They failed to register a single shot on target against Colombia — only the second side in this entire round of 32 to manage that, after Austria against Spain — and only Iraq mustered fewer efforts on goal across the whole tournament.
They also remain without a win over South American opposition at a World Cup (1 draw, 3 defeats) and leave this tournament having missed the chance to become the first African nation to win two World Cup knockout matches.
One personal milestone amid it: Jordan Ayew made his 10th World Cup appearance, joining brother Andre (10) and Asamoah Gyan (11) in Ghana’s exclusive club.
Although, as Thom Harris rather mercilessly pointed out below, you’d be hard pressed to have noticed he was there. One for the grandkids!
There is a heat wave sweeping the United States and the weather in Mexico looks volatile as well.
It’s obvious Mexico vs England at Estadio Azteca has all the makings of yet another instant classic in this World Cup tomorrow, but several other ties look intriguing come the last 16 when factoring in the venues.
The star-studded Iberian Peninsula derby between Spain and Portugal will be played indoors in Arlington, Texas, as will Argentina vs Egypt in Atlanta — and yes, Switzerland vs Colombia in Vancouver.
All three could see intense contests without players having to battle with the heat too. Canada vs Morocco in Houston will be indoors as well.
There will also be moderate temperatures in Seattle, where the United States face Belgium on Monday.
In full-flow — as they were for large parts of the first half — Colombia are a joy to watch. Rampant full-backs Daniel Munoz and Johan Mojica push high, while veteran creator James Rodriguez drifts across midfield and livewire winger Luis Diaz fizzes with energy on the flanks.
They pop the ball about with real tempo, looking to draw the opposition in before hitting onrushing wide-players with long balls into the flanks.
Gustavo Puerta and Jhon Arias are the unsung heroes in midfield, constantly darting into spaces to pick up the ball, working incessantly to take players away from Rodriguez in the middle.
They are the beating heart of Colombia’s swirling rotations, even if they aren’t often on the end of that final cross.
Here in Kansas City, Arias finally got his reward with his neat cushioned goal.
Premier League fans may be familiar with the 28-year-old, playing just half a season at Wolves on their way to relegation, before instantly returning to Brazilian football. But Arias is a different player for the national team, a zippy midfielder who has made a specialist role his own.
Colombia’s players must have known from the moment they approached their hotel on Thursday afternoon, this was going to feel like another home game.
Their supporters had lined the streets to greet them, blowing horns and singing songs, and they kept up that fervour all evening and then all day today, bringing a bit of Bogota — and a lot of yellow — to Kansas City.
It was a similar story last week in Miami, which is home to a huge Hispanic community, but Colombia are backed in huge numbers everywhere they go. Demand for tickets for their matches has been among the highest for all teams at this tournament — both from within the U.S. and from Colombia.
Their journey will continue in Vancouver, where the Colombian fans are certain to outnumber their Swiss counterparts on Tuesday.
Colombia have reached the World Cup quarter-finals just once, at Brazil 2014 — a run lit up by James Rodriguez’s stunning volley to beat Uruguay in the last 16, before it ended in the last eight against the hosts: the infamous night Zuniga’s challenge broke Neymar’s back.
Twelve years on, the last-16 door looks a touch more invitingly: Switzerland are well-drilled and no pushovers, but arguably a kinder draw than that Uruguay side.
Whatever might wait in the quarters though, is a problem for another day. Switzerland first.
He does a bit of everything for club and country, Daniel Munoz. That was a true all-action performance this evening as he contributed at both ends and everywhere in between.
He remains one of Colombia’s stand-out players and has a claim to be the right-back in the Team of the Tournament at this stage.
There is no doubt Carlos Queiroz knows how to set up a stubborn defensive block; just ask Thomas Tuchel and his England players, who were frustrated by Ghana in a stodgy 0-0 draw last week.
That was clearly the game-plan again tonight, aware they would not be able to take on Colombia at their high-tempo passing game.
But having ceded two-thirds of possession to their opponents in the first half, failing to direct a shot on target throughout the entire game, you can’t help but feel they were a little tame in the Kansas City heat.
Defending in a back five, Antoine Semenyo was the spark up top — the only forward really able to take on his man and inject a little pace into their rare forays forward.
A return of precisely zero shots and just one touch in the penalty area from Jordan Ayew across his entire tournament was simply not enough.
Queiroz did have options on the bench. He introduced the pacey Abdul Fatawu but tricky winger Kamaldeen Sulemana and dynamic centre-forward Brandon Thomas-Asante remained uncalled. As time ticked away and Ghana desperately searched for a goal, they resorted to long passes and hopeful balls forward.
To their credit, Ghana kept the score down and competed until the last whistle. But there may be a tinge of regret they didn’t fully let the handbrake off.
There aren’t any obvious weaknesses in Colombia’s team despite their lack of stars outside of Luis Diaz.
Among their most underrated players is Jefferson Lerma, who gets through an awful lot of running in the middle of the pitch.
Only Colombia’s two centre-backs made more passes than the Crystal Palace man, who helped keep everything ticking along this evening.
Colombia have a star man in Luis Diaz. They have a leader with extensive major-tournament experience in James Rodriguez. They have other standouts in attack and in midfield like Juan Fernando Quintero, Jhon Arias and Luis Suarez.
And, of course, they were 2024 Copa America runners-up in the U.S. just two years ago.
Switzerland cruised through Group B after an early hiccup against Qatar but frankly, have not really been tested by a team at Colombia’s level. Beyond that, neither potential quarter-final opponents — Egypt and Argentina — were convincing earlier today.
Could Colombia go deep at this World Cup? Far stranger things have happened.
It hasn’t been easy to judge the leading teams so far at this World Cup, since the 48-team format and the seeding system have largely kept them apart.
But Colombia’s positive impression made in the group stage was strengthened by another assured performance tonight.
How good are they? Good enough to be considered favourites to beat Switzerland in the round of 16. Good enough perhaps, to feel they could trouble Argentina if it ends up an all South American quarter-final.
They have only reached the quarter-finals once before — in Brazil in 2014 — but that looks like a realistic objective for an experienced team with a strong defence and incisive attacking players like Luis Diaz in particular.
If there is a concern, it’s that they have not scored as many goals as their performances have merited. They dominated possession against DR Congo but were grateful to win 1-0 thanks to a deflected goal in the 76th minute. They had 26 attempts on goal against Portugal but drew 0-0.
Here they took an early lead but were not ruthless enough to kill off Ghana’s hopes completely. That is something to work on.
Here is how the last 16 representation breaks down from each continent.
No Asian teams made it through to the last 16, with Japan and Australia both getting eliminated in the round of 32.
So, seven of the eight finalists in the most recent continental tournaments in North America, South America, Europe and Africa are into the last 16 of the World Cup.
That works if we include the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup for Mexico and the United States, rather than their participation in the 2024 Copa America where Argentina beat Colombia in the final.
Euro 2024 finalists Spain and England are both through. Morocco, current winners of the contested AFCON 2025 final, are also through, with Senegal the lone exception after that heartbreaking collapse against Belgium.
We started with 48 teams (sorry, Carlos) and those have now been whittled down to 16. That means we are almost into the championship rounds at the 2026 World Cup.
Which of these matches are you looking forward to most?
Credit where due. Fox Sports’ Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been more loose and less self-important during his analysis today than at any point I’ve listened to him in this tournament.
Dare I say, he’s actually been a decent listen?
It won’t get the attention of other goalkeeper performances in this tournament, because nearly all of it came with his side trailing.
But Lawrence Ati-Zigi is the only reason the scoreline reads 1-0 tonight and not the absolute drubbing that Colombia probably feel was deserved.
He made seven saves tonight, many of them difficult — all on his surprise return to the XI after Benjamin Asare was surprisingly dropped to the bench — but his team-mates never really posed a threat to undo Jhon Arias’s opener for Colombia up the other end, and that was that.
Team Stats
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Game Details
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