Published On 4/7/2026
The round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup in Kansas concluded with Colombia defeating Ghana 1-0 with an early goal by John Arias, to meet Switzerland in the last 16.
The Colombian national team qualified from the elimination round for the second time in the history of its participation in the World Cup, after defeating Uruguay 2-0 in the round of 16 in 2014. The Colombian national team has now achieved its fifth consecutive victory against African teams in the tournament, after losing in the first confrontation of this kind.
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Clean windows
Colombia kept a clean sheet in three consecutive matches for the first time in its World Cup history, and goalkeeper Camilo Vargas made only three saves during this series, none of which were in today’s match against Ghana.
Ghana is still without a win against South American teams in the World Cup (a draw and three losses), and the Ghanaian team also missed the opportunity to become the first African team to win two matches in the knockout stages in the history of the tournament.
Colombia collected 2.19 expected goals against Ghana, their most in a knockout round match, and the second-highest in World Cup history (2.61 expected goals against Japan in 2014).
Iraq is just less correct
Only the Iraqi national team (2) had fewer shots on goal than Ghana (4) in the 2026 World Cup. The Ghanaian national team did not succeed in shooting any ball on goal today against Colombia, becoming the second team in the round of 32 not to shoot any ball on goal, after Austria against Spain.
Numbers for history
Luis Suarez came on as a substitute in the eighth minute and assisted Colombia’s first goal in the 14th minute, the fastest goal contribution by a substitute player in World Cup history.
John Arias scored the second-fastest goal for Colombia in World Cup history (13:49), only Pablo Armero’s fifth-minute goal against Greece in the 2014 group stage had been scored before him (4:48).
The Colombia-Ghana match is the first in World Cup history to witness both teams making a substitution before the 15th minute.
Jordan Ayew becomes the third Ghanaian player to make 10 or more World Cup appearances, joining his brother Andre Ayew (10) and Asamoah Gyan (11).
With an average age of 30 years and 344 days, Colombia fielded the second-oldest starting lineup of any World Cup knockout side on record since 1950, behind only Cape Verde’s line-up against Argentina earlier today (31 years and 197 days).
