Key stats
- Ghana failed to attempt a shot on target in this game; it's the first time they failed to attempt a shot on target in a game in the World Cup (since at least 1965/1966).
- Jhon Arias' goal was the second-earliest goal in Colombia's World Cup history (13:49), after Pablo Armero's fifth-minute strike versus Greece in 2014.
Colombia are undefeated in their last seven games in the World Cup, their longest unbeaten streak in the competition (since at least 1965/1966).
Highlights
Analysis
Match report
Neither side enjoyed an ideal start to this first-ever H2H, with both forced into early changes as Colombia’s Jhon Cordoba and Ghana’s Marvin Senaya went off injured inside 13 minutes.
There were immediate ramifications to those early changes, with Los Cafeteros substitute Luis Suarez crossing from the right to the back post where Jhon Arias arrived completely unmarked to sweep home the opener.
Much of Ghana’s recent success has come from a solid backline which kept five successive competitive clean sheets prior to their matchday three defeat against Croatia.
Falling behind early was therefore far from an ideal situation, and failing to register a single shot on target prior to HT epitomised the Black Stars’ struggles.
Their deficit could’ve increased before the break, but Luis Diaz fired wide after the ball bounced fortuitously into his path, and returning goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi made a stunning stop to deny Johan Mojica’s header.
Six of Colombia’s previous seven matches saw the HT result replicated at FT, so a mammoth task awaited Ghana after the restart.
Their lack of quality up front was continuously a problem, and Colombia continued to threaten to put the game beyond them. Gustavo Puerta’s curling strike was kept out by Ati-Zigi, before Diaz thought he’d doubled their lead, before being denied by the offside flag.
The Bayern Munich winger’s luckless evening continued when he was thwarted by Ati-Zigi after being found by Puerta in a promising position.
Colombia’s attacking output reduced as the contest went on, and while Ghana probed for long periods, they simply could not find a way through Los Cafeteros’ backline.
As a result, Colombia reached the last 16 for a fourth successive WC appearance, while Ghana bow out after suffering a fourth defeat in as many meetings against South American opponents at the finals.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gustavo Puerta (Colombia)
Check out the full match stats here
World Cup 2026
The 2026 World Cup was held from June 11th to July 19th in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The tournament featured 48 national teams and was played in 16 modern stadiums.