Colombia – Ghana

An African national team will play a worthy match.

One of the most interesting matches will conclude the Round of 16 stage in Kansas. In the Colombia–Ghana pairing there are no teams that were originally among the World Cup favorites. Still, each of the teams can spring a surprise at this World Cup. The winner of this pairing in the Round of 16 will face Switzerland, a fairly solid side, but with its own ceiling. And only in the quarterfinals of this part of the bracket might you meet Argentina, if it, of course, gets past Cape Verde. Colombia arrived at the World Cup in North America as the runners-up of the Copa América. In the final of the last continental edition, the Colombians pushed the match to extra time against Argentina, when they conceded the only goal of the game. The opening rounds were not easy for Luis Díaz and his teammates, but they earned wins against DR Congo and Uzbekistan. In the match against Portugal in the final group-stage round, the top spot was up for grabs. It is worth noting that Colombia did not intend to sit back in defense or play in a purely defensive, secondary role. Both sides created plenty of chances, but neither could score. The bookmakers pegged the nominal hosts as the favorites to win, offering odds of 1.43 on their victory. The Ghana national team advanced from a very tough group in third place, where England and Croatia were also contesting. The Africans secured the decisive win to reach the knockout stage in their very first group round, when they scored the only goal in the match against Panama at 90+5. In the second round, the Ghanaians earned a point from the English (0-0), and in the third they were quite competitive in the match against the Croats. Interestingly, Croatia managed to lose its Round of 16 match to Portugal, with whom Colombia, in the group stage of the tournament, played out goalless draws. The opponents had never met before, but it can be said with confidence that Ghana, like DR Congo and Senegal in previous Round of 16 matches, will present the favorite with plenty of difficulties. Let us bet that the Africans will perform with distinction.