Colombia 1 – 0 Ghana

Colombia reached the last sixteen of the World Cup for the third time with a 1-0 win over Ghana in their last three games at the tournament.

Coffee farmers Brazil reached the quarter-finals in 2014 and the last 16 in 2018.

Nestor Lorenzo’s side now face Switzerland in Vancouver on July 7, with a quarter-final against either Argentina or Egypt, on the line.

An unwanted piece of history was made in Kansas City, with both sides forced to make changes after injuries to Colombia’s Jon Cordoba and Ghana’s Marvin Senaya. No World Cup match has seen both teams make changes before 15 minutes.

That didn’t disrupt the flow of the game, and Colombia struck shortly after the second change. Cordoba substitute Luis Suarez curled in a cross from the right, which the untracked John Arias – formerly of Wolves – was able to guide home.

They should have added to their lead before the break, but Luis Diaz struck wide after a quick counter, before Suarez headed in at the opposite post and Johan Mojica’s header was curled brilliantly by Lawrence Atti Ziggy.

Just before the hour mark, Colombia celebrated a second when Luis Diaz slid in to convert Crystal Palace’s Jefferson Lamar cross, only for the assistant referee 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 slim advantage was never threatened.

Important moments in Kansas City…

• 1: Shot! Ghana’s Thomas Partey tested the waters with a shot from 25 yards that whistled just wide.
• 8: Sub! Colombia’s Jon Cordoba is injured. He was replaced by Luis Suarez.
• 13: Sub! Ghana’s Marvin Senaya is also out with an injury. Alidu Sedu comes.
• 14: Goal! John Arias opened the scoring after picking up Suarez’s cross.
• 45+1: Save! Crucial stop by Ghana’s Lawrence Ati Ziggy to tip Johan Mojica’s header away.
• 57: Goal disallowed! Diaz slides in Jefferson Lamar’s cross, but he’s flagged for offside.

Analysis: Colombia need to go further – and Quintero could be key

Sky Sports’ Dan Long:

After John Arias scored the winner for Colombia in the first 15 minutes, Nestor Lorenzo’s side looked sharp. Ghana’s low block served them well in the group stage, but it looked like the dominant Colombians could do more than enough to put the game to bed.

But, despite generating 2.19 xG, the second goal never came.

It wasn’t a problem, in the end, as Ghana offered precious little going forward, but against stronger opposition, they could have been punished for not taking their chances.

Lorenzo may look to bring in Juan Fernando Quintero to remedy this. 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, made no mistake on any of his 19 passes and created five chances – the most of any player on the pitch. He also almost scored a goal of the tournament contender, but, fortunately for Ghana, his rocket flew wide of the right-hand post.

A starting spot in Vancouver could be well off.

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