Colombia 1-0 Ghana: total control in the Kansas City furnace and a date with Switzerland

[Hawk]

The scoreline says narrow and the game said anything but. Jhon Arias finished a sharp cross on 14 minutes and Colombia strolled from there, holding Ghana to ZERO shots across the entire match, an xG of 0.26 against their own 2.18, and a third consecutive clean sheet. That is their first World Cup knockout win since the James show against Uruguay back in 2014

The circumstances made the control even more impressive. It was 88 degrees with a heat index in the mid 90s at kickoff in Arrowhead despite the late start, both sets of players were cramping through the hydration breaks, and Colombia lost Jhon Cordoba to injury inside ten minutes, with the young Luis Suarez coming off the bench early and setting up the goal

The James subplot is worth watching too, a tenth World Cup start tying the Colombian record and then off at half time, with the coach mentioning flu like symptoms in the camp while calling it tactical. Meanwhile Luis Diaz kept saying all the right humble things afterwards even with Spain's coach publicly calling Colombia a candidate to win the whole thing

So Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday for a quarterfinal spot, the winners having conceded one goal between them all tournament. Are Colombia genuinely the dark horse everyone keeps whispering about, and is holding a team to literally no shots the most impressive stat of the round?

Colombia see off Ghana to head back to World Cup round of 16www.espn.com

[Pale Connor]

Zero shots in a World Cup knockout game is an astonishing stat. Not zero on target, ZERO. That is a training exercise, not a contest

[Joel5]

Slight pushback, Ghana set up not to lose and the early goal killed their entire plan. The stat flatters Colombia a touch, the performance was controlled rather than devastating

[Matt_81]

Controlled rather than devastating wins World Cups though. Ask 2010 Spain, who bored their way to immortality one 1-0 at a time

[Hannah56]

The Suarez cameo is the story for me, striker goes down in minute eight and the replacement creates the winner within six minutes. Depth like that is what separates dark horses from actual contenders

[Hawk]

Also the funniest possible name for a South American striker to be terrorising defences, the universe has a sense of humour

[Dylan38]

James at half time worries me if I am Colombian, flu in the camp four days before a quarterfinal decider is exactly the kind of subplot that derails a tournament quietly

[GameChanger]

Colombia vs Switzerland is the connoisseur's tie of the round of 16, two teams nobody hypes, one goal conceded between them, and a genuine quarterfinal for the winner. I am fully seated

[Hollow Coder]

Playing in that Kansas heat then flying to Vancouver while Switzerland has been parked there for days is a real scheduling edge for the Swiss that nobody is pricing in

[Phil95]

De la Fuente calling them candidates to win it is either respect or the oldest pressure transfer trick in the book, possibly both at once

[StarfieldPilgrim]

Dark horse case is simple, best defensive record, in form wingers, a settled coach and the soft half of the bracket. The whisper is getting louder for a reason