Colombia topped Group K, ahead of Portugal
Ghana secured a Round of 32 placement with a 2-1 win over Panama
Colombia’s odds to win the World Cup have dropped sharply since pre-tournament
In another world, it would have been Portugal lining up against Ghana in the Round of 32; that’s what the seedings dictated, but Colombia had other ideas and it’s los Cafeteros who take on the Black Stars at this stage.
This has the makings of a genuinely intriguing game, with a definite favorite pre-match who will nonetheless need to have their wits about them against a side that has already held England to a 0-0 draw. There will be plenty of attacking quality on show in Kansas City, which will hopefully translate to a few goals.
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Colombia have reached this stage by winning their group, and yet they have managed to avoid a lot of the hype and fuss that often accompanies that path. Being drawn alongside Portugal meant that they would come head-to-head with Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, but when the sides met, a game that ended in a 0-0 draw was notable for how much the South American side looked like the better team. A borderline, VAR-assisted offside decision was all that separated them from a 90th-minute winner.
In their other two games, Colombia won through with little ceremony. One goal was all it took to defeat DR Congo, while the opening game against Uzbekistan was a 3-1 win which was much smoother than the stats – an added-time third goal being needed to seal all three points – made it look. None of this suddenly makes them strong contenders to win the tournament, but they are in the conversation.
For Ghana, progress to this stage was all but assured after taking four points from their first two games. A late 1-0 win over Panama allowed them to relax a little and provide a roadblock to a confident England side, more than deserving their point from a 0-0 result. All of which meant that when they ended up losing out to Croatia in their final group game, they had more than enough of a cushion to assure their third-place qualification for this round.
The Black Stars haven’t exactly been prolific to this point, and that lack of attacking confidence may be their undoing against Colombia. They’ll be hoping for a big performance from Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo; he’s more than capable of delivering it, but whether enough of their less-heralded players are on his wavelength could be a decisive factor here.
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It would be an exaggeration to suggest that Colombia have joined the competition favorites with their easy progress from Group K, but the top World Cup betting sites have dramatically cut their odds as the positive results have stacked up. Ghana opened with a win but there is a world of difference between Panama and Colombia where quality is concerned. All things being equal, it is hard to call this in any direction other than a comfortable, if not heavy, win for Colombia.
Cards on the table, this is one of those games that could go any one of a number of ways, with either side winning, and be replete with either lots of thrilling attacking play or cagey safety-first tactics. Much will depend on how the first fifteen minutes go, and if Colombia can get their difference-makers such as Luis Diaz and Gustavo Puerta on the ball in the early stages they’ll have a real chance of getting the goals they need. If Ghana can negate them as they did England’s star men, then it could be a much more nuggety affair. We’d lean towards the former.
Having spent the last half-decade first at Liverpool and then at Bayern Munchen, Luis Diaz has plenty of experience of soccer at the very top echelon. He’s probably more of a leading man here than in his club career where he has been alongside the likes of Mo Salah or Harry Kane, but Diaz is good enough to be a standout here and BetMGM have him well priced to feature among the scorers.
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