Jhon Arias goal sends Colombia into Last 16 as Ghana exits World Cup | 2026 World Cup

Ghana could have feared the worst when Luis Suárez’s number came on in the seventh minute. A day has passed since the 16th anniversary of one of the most infamous episodes in the history of the World Cup, the Colombian striker known as the man who broke the hearts of Black Stars fans in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup.

Not long after coming off the bench, it was the Sporting striker who provided the assist for what turned out to be Jhon Arias’ winning goal to set up a last 16 match against Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday. Even if they couldn’t get another goal they should have done, Colombia had a deserved win and looked more than capable of matching their previous best result at the 2014 World Cup when they reached the last eight.

This was Ghana’s first knockout game since that fateful day in Johannesburg when Suárez and Uruguay prevented them from becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals. But this is a limited team that is likely to be more successful under Carlos Queiroz who has experience doing so far. The lack of intelligence in the absence of Tottenham’s Mohammed Kudus was revealed here.

Néstor Lorenzo previously revealed that as usual he had received advice from his 89-year-old mother before facing Ghana. “He has not given me specific instructions about this game, but he is always vigilant and follows it with love,” said the Argentinian defender who was part of the team that lost in the 1990 World Cup final.

With Colombia’s yellow-shirted fans outnumbering their West African counterparts, their manager knew he had the shoulders on his shoulders to take the game to Ghana. But it was Thomas Partey who almost opened the scoring within the opening two minutes as his shot went over the bar. A suspected hamstring injury to Jhon Córdoba after a collision with Jerome Opoku forced Colombia into an early substitution as Suárez – who scored 28 goals for Portugal last season but has been used mainly from the bench here so far – was introduced. A frustrated Marvin Senaya also had to be substituted shortly after an incident involving Luis Díaz with the Bayern Munich striker insisting he should have had a penalty, despite what appeared to be diving.

This change seemed to have a positive impact on Ghana’s organization which was very impressive when they faced England during the group stage. Predictably it was Suárez who found space down the right flank and capitalized on his second attempt to cross the ball past an unmarked Arias at the far post. Young midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi was responsible for losing his man.

Another bad thing about Ghana is that they failed to win their last three World Cup matches against South American countries, they lost to Brazil in 2006 in the last 16 before being beaten again by Uruguay four years ago during the group stages. Rushing games is not how Queiroz has made his name in the last four World Cups and has drawn the ire of Colombia fans as they appear reluctant to play forward football.

Alidu Seidu, who replaced Senaya at right-back, then delivered the ball into danger and a better finish from Díaz would have given Ghana a huge mountain to climb. Goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi – recalled after injury – then helped them with a flying save to deny Johan Mojica’s header from Daniel Muñoz’s superb cross.

James Rodríguez looked disappointed to be sent off at half-time, even if the best days of the 34-year-old, who shone in his previous run to the quarter-finals in 2014, are clearly behind him. Ghana got off to a quick start when Antoine Semenyo’s shot went against the goal post. Díaz thought he might have doubled the lead, only for the linesman’s flag to cut short his and René Higuita’s celebrations at home before another effort was saved by Ati-Zigi. Ghana was waiting for their lives. Queiroz threw on Leicester’s Abdul Fatawu as one of four players trying to force extra time. But Colombia still looked to have a chance to score as Davinson Sánchez saw his header saved from a corner and substitute Jaminton Campaz also went close. With Argentina set to face Argentina in the last eight if they can get past Switzerland, there will be much bigger tests ahead than Ghana can handle.