Jhon Arias scored the only goal of the match in the 14th minute, giving Colombia a 1-0 win over Ghana on July 4, 2026, at Kansas City Stadium. The victory sent Colombia into the last 16 teams of the FIFA World Cup. Al Jazeera

The goal came from close range after a cross from Luis Suarez, who had just come onto the field as a substitute. Suarez had replaced Jhon Cordoba, who got injured early in the game. That early injury forced an unplanned change, but it worked out — Suarez's first real play led directly to the winning goal.

Referee Clément Turpin managed a tight match that stayed tense until the end. Ghana's goalkeeper, Lawrence Ati Zigi, made three important saves to keep Colombia from scoring more.

Colombia created chances in the second half but didn't score. Luis Diaz had a goal taken away in the 56th minute because he was in an offside position — that meant he was too close to Ghana's goal line when the ball was played to him. Losing that goal left Colombia at 1-0 and put them at risk if Ghana scored late in the match. Ghana pushed hard to tie the game, but Colombia's defense, led by players like Jhon Lucumi, held firm. This was the first competitive World Cup match ever played between these two countries. FIFA

The match kicked off at 01:30 GMT, wrapping up the final day of the Round of 32. Other matches that day were Argentina vs Cabo Verde and Australia vs Egypt.

What comes next matters more. Colombia will face Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday in the Round of 16, and this match will be much tougher. The narrow win over Ghana might hide some cracks — Colombia's goalkeeper had to do real work, and the early injury threw off their planned tactics before the game even got started. Colombia has good attacking players like Diaz and Arias who can break through defensive lines. But Switzerland plays a controlled, organized style. How well Colombia handles Switzerland will tell us much more about how far they can go in this tournament than what we saw in Kansas City.