The curtain falls on the World Cup Round of 32 in the early hours of Saturday (4:30 a.m.), with Colombia facing Ghana in Kansas City, with the last spot in the tournament’s Round of 16 at stake.

Nestor Lorenzo’s team has had an outstanding run so far, having finished the group stage undefeated and topping the group ahead of Portugal.

They started with a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan, followed by a 1-0 win against the Congo, and in the final match, they drew 0-0 with Portugal. Although the draw was enough to secure first place, Colombia was the better team, created several chances, and showed that it has the quality needed to go quite far.

Luis Díaz is the South Americans’ standout player, making a significant contribution to the team’s creativity, while the veteran James Rodríguez continues to make a difference at age 35. Right back Muñoz has also been in excellent form and is expected to return to the starting lineup.

They will face Carlos Queiroz’s Ghana, which advanced as one of the best third-place finishers in the group stage. The “Black Stars” narrowly defeated Panama (1-0), earned a valuable draw against England (0-0), and lost 2-1 to Croatia in their final group match.

The Africans rely primarily on their defensive solidity and will attempt to neutralize Colombia’s attacking threat, looking for opportunities on the counterattack. Semenio’s status remains uncertain until the last minute due to a minor ankle injury, but all signs point to him starting.

The winner of this match will face Switzerland in the Round of 16, following the Swiss’s 2-0 victory over Algeria.

Probable starting lineups:

Colombia: Vargas, Muñoz, Sánchez, Lukumi, Mojica, Lerma, Puerta, Arias, James Rodríguez, Luis Suárez, Luis Díaz.

Ghana: Asare, Senaya, Anzetei, Lukasen, Mensah, Partey, Sibo, Yerenki, Sulemana, Jordan Ayew, Semenio.

*Photo source: AP