On the eve of Ghana’s first World Cup knockout match in sixteen years, head coach Carlos Queiroz used his pre-match press conference in Kansas City to frame the contest not merely as a sporting fixture but as a continental responsibility. Speaking hours before the Black Stars face Colombia in the Round of 32, the Portuguese veteran declared it was his team’s “duty” to ensure another African nation reached the last sixteen, after Senegal, Ivory Coast and DR Congo all fell at the same hurdle. The moment was sharpened by an unscripted appeal to the Colombian Football Federation to “repair” what happened to Des McAleenan, the goalkeeping coach who died following a Covid-era isolation in Bogotá during Queiroz’s own tenure in charge of Los Cafeteros.

Ghana advanced to this stage as one of the best third-placed teams, collecting four points from a group that included a 1-0 win over Panama, a goalless draw with England and a 2-1 defeat to Croatia. That loss, captain Jordan Ayew insisted, was “a one-off” and would have no bearing on a knockout tie he described as “totally different”. Across the continent, the exits of four African sides in the first knockout round have left only Morocco and Ghana to carry the region’s hopes, a statistic Queiroz said his players were determined to “improve”. Ayew, recalling Ghana’s run to the 2010 quarter-finals, promised the team would “definitely make Africa proud and Ghana proud”, adding that the recent Accra floods had given the squad an extra source of motivation.

Tactically, Queiroz demanded a near-flawless performance, warning that “there is no room for mistakes” in a match where “the real World Cup starts now”. He acknowledged Colombia’s quality under Néstor Lorenzo — a side that topped Group K without defeat, conceding only once — but noted that “no team is perfect”. Ayew expressed full confidence in the game plan, saying the manager’s instructions had prepared them for the challenge. Colombian media, reporting from the same press conference, highlighted Queiroz’s assertion that “Colombia no es perfecta” and his emotional recollection of McAleenan, which added a layer of personal history to an already charged encounter.

The winner will face either Switzerland or Algeria in the Round of 16. For Ghana, a victory would end a knockout-stage drought stretching back to the 2010 quarter-final in South Africa, while for Colombia it would mark a return to the last sixteen after missing the 2022 tournament entirely. The match, the first-ever meeting between the two nations, kicks off at 01:30 GMT on Saturday at Kansas City Stadium.