KANSAS CITY, Mo. — John Arias headed home Luis Suarez’s incisive cross in the opening minutes and Colombia controlled Ghana on a sweltering night at Arrowhead Stadium, allowing Los Cafeteros to advance to the round of 16 of the World Cup with a 1-0 win on Friday night.
Colombia will play Switzerland on Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a spot in the quarterfinals.
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It was Colombia’s second victory in the knockout stages of the World Cup and its first since 2014, when it reached the quarterfinals in Brazil.
There were just minutes left in the game when Colombia striker John Cordova appeared to injure his groin, forcing coach Nestor Lorenzo to bring Suarez – Sporting’s standout player – off the bench as an early replacement.
He was immediately involved in the game: in the 14th minute, Daniel Muñoz passed the ball to Suarez, who sent it across the front of the goal, where Arias was waiting to tip the ball past Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi for a 1-0 lead.
Lorenzo later said Cordova “felt the pull” but needed to undergo tests to determine the severity of the problem.
Los Cafeteros thought they had doubled their lead in the 56th minute when Luis Diaz scored but an offside flag was raised and minutes later the fleet-footed Colombia striker saved Zigi’s point-blank shot.
Zigi finished the game with seven saves to keep Ghana in the game.
Colombia celebrates John Arias’ goal against Ghana. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Ghana failed to get a shot on target as Colombia secured a third straight shutout.
Veteran playmaker James Rodriguez, who scored both goals in the win over Uruguay to take Colombia to the quarter-finals in 2014, was making his 10th World Cup start, tying Carlos Valderrama and Freddy Rincón for the most appearances by a Colombian player at the tournament.
However, Rodriguez, 34, left the game on Friday after halftime.
“Several players had flu-like symptoms and we expected them to be more tired,” Lorenzo said. “But at that time it was a tactical substitution.”
When the game started at 8:30 p.m. local time, the temperature was 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31.1 Celsius) with a heat index of 96, with the late start being intentional due to the expected summer heat in the Midwest. Hydration breaks, which had been a controversial issue in many matches, suddenly became a blessing as players on both teams battled dehydration and cramps.
Colombia cruised through the group stage easily, conceding just one goal in wins over Uzbekistan and DR Congo and drawing with Portugal. Los Cafeteros made such an impression that Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, whose side are considered tournament favourites, called them “a candidate to win the World Cup”.
“We won absolutely nothing,” said Colombia star Diaz. “These games are very difficult. Every game we have seen has been intense. The good and positive thing is that we are playing very well, we feel comfortable, we are a family, we work as a team and that will work in the future.”
Their fans certainly believe in them.
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Leboeuf ‘disappointed’ with Ghana’s performance against Colombia
The NFL executives’ home has three levels of seating with a strip of yellow sandwiched between red. However, about two hours before kickoff, the entire bowl of the stadium east of downtown Kansas City was bathed in bright Columbia yellow.
Ghana knew they would be underdogs. However, the team, which failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations last year for the first time in almost two decades, has already answered many critics by surviving a difficult group led by England and Croatia.
The question facing Colombia is: Can Ghana mount enough of an attack?
As expected, Los Cafeteros dominated the ball – the Black Stars had possession just 36.1% of the time in the group stage, the second-lowest of all leading teams – and those offensive problems continued into the match against Colombia. Even when Ghana mounted an attack, Colombia were there to respond quickly, using the speed of Suarez, Diaz and their midfielders.
“Tight game. Tough game for both teams, I think, as I expected,” said Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz. “Colombia started the game as we expected, full speed, with a lot of intensity, passing. We tried to respond and stop them, but unfortunately the goal came too early for us.”
ESPN’s Bill Connelly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.