After being promoted to the Premier League with Coventry City last season, Ghana’s Brandon Thomas-Asante will be hoping his memorable year can continue – by beating Colombia in Kansas and taking Ghana through to the last eight of the 2026 World Cup.
The Black Stars beat Panama with a late 95th-minute goal, holding England to a 0-0 draw, before their flawless defensive record was broken with a 2-1 loss to 2018 finalists Croatia in Group L.
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“We are happy that when we look around the dressing room, we see a lot of talent and a lot of skill,” says the attacker via Ghana’s website.
“There is a great hunger to go out and create a name for ourselves as a nation – and continue that legacy.
Colombia have been even more impressively solid defensively – they have gone over four hours without conceding a goal since their opening match’s 3-1 win over Uzbekistan.
Daniel Muñoz scored the only goal in the win over DR Congo, and Davinson Sánchez had a late goal nullified for offside in the 0-0 draw against Portugal – which nevertheless secured Colombia the group victory ahead of Portugal.
“We can’t take away people’s dreams,” says midfielder Richard Ríos. “To the Colombian people: the dream is alive.
“I feel that both they and we have a lot of hope – but with humility, with our feet on the ground, step by step, day by day.
“We are working the mistakes we have made, and on everything we do well. But I can’t take away the excitement. We are Colombians – and that is what keeps us alive.
The winner of this clash will face Switzerland or Algeria – who meet in Vancouver on Friday (04:00 BST) – in the round of eight in the Canadian city on Tuesday (21:00).
Lineups and injuries
Ghana: Centre-back Jerome Opoku is back in the heat of the match after missing the loss to Croatia due to injury. Manchester City striker Antoine Semenyo is expected to start, despite discomfort in his ankle towards the end of the group stage. Goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi is likely to be back on the bench after a groin injury.
Colombia: Crystal Palace player Muñoz will be hoping to regain his place, having scored in each of Colombia’s first two games and set up Sánchez’s cancelled goal – after replacing Santiago Arias in the 87th minute against Portugal.
Colombia made changes for the first time in the third group game, when Muñoz, Johan Mojica and Luis Suárez had to give way to Arias, Deiver Machado and Jhon Córdoba.
Suárez scored four goals in the South American qualifiers – as many as Argentina’s Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez.
Probable line-ups
Colombia (XI): Camilo Vargas – Santiago Arias, Davinson Sánchez, Jhon Lucumí, Deiver Machado – Jhon Arias, Jefferson Lerma, Gustavo Puerta – James Rodríguez, Jhon Córdoba, Luis Díaz
Ghana (XI): Benjamin Asare – Marvin Senaya, Jonas Adjetey, Derrick Luckassen, Gideon Mensah – Antoine Semenyo, Elisha Owusu, Thomas Partey, Kwasi Sibo, Kamaldeen Sulemana – Jordan Ayew
How to watch the match
Kick-off: Friday (early Saturday Norwegian time)
TV (UK): Check local channels
Streaming: Available via BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport
Key figures
Colombia:
- Colombia have won their last four World Cup matches against African nations
- Ghana, on the other hand, have never won any of their three World Cup matches against South American opponents
- Los Cafeteros can keep a clean sheet in three World Cup games in a row for the first time ever
- James Rodríguez could start his tenth World Cup match for Colombia – equalling the record of Carlos Valderrama and Freddy Rincón
- The playmaker already passed Valderrama and Rincón when he played his 11th World Cup match for Colombia against Portugal
- In that 0-0 draw, Colombia had their most shots (24) in a World Cup match since the statistics were recorded in 1966
Ghana:
- Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz had a brief stint as Colombia coach between 2019 and 2020 – he left the job after a poor start to the 2022 World Cup qualifiers
- Queiroz is the second coach to have participated in five World Cup finals in a row, after Bora Milutinović
- At 73 years and 108 days old, Queiroz became the oldest coach to win a World Cup match – until South Africa’s Hugo Broos broke the record (74 years, 75 days)
- Ghana’s average possession rate of 36.1% in the group stage was the second-lowest among the teams progressing – only Paraguay (33.9%) had a lower
- Antoine Semenyo is yet to get a shot on target at this World Cup – his three finishes have given an expected goal value (xG) of 0.13 total
Our Prediction
Colombia had much of the momentum and six out of eight shots on goal in the impressive 0-0 draw against a feared Portugal side. Ghana have been difficult to break down, but may need to offer more in attack to avoid defeat – they have had just one finish on target in each of their last two games.
Divination: Colombia 1-0 Ghana
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