Colombia await Ghana in World Cup knockout, Queiroz's defence holds firm

Colombia in the Round of 32, Saturday

Your knockout opponent is set. Ghana face Colombia in the World Cup Round of 32 on Saturday, July 4 (1). Colombia topped their group with a 3–1 win over Uzbekistan and beat Jordan 2–0 in a friendly last month (1). They carry real firepower, James Rodriguez, Jefferson Lerma, and Luis Diaz are all expected to feature. But your team just shut out England, and that blueprint travels.

England vs DR Congo: Ghana watching closely

England face DR Congo in the Round of 32 on Wednesday (2) (3). The winner of that match advances to the Round of 16, where Switzerland or Algeria await (4). If Ghana beat Colombia, your team faces the Switzerland–Algeria winner in the next round. England manager Thomas Tuchel called your defensive performance against his side one of the most disciplined he had ever seen, and that was after a 0–0 draw that left England top of Group L but frustrated (2) (3). England beat Croatia 4–2 and Panama 2–0 in the group stage (2) (3). DR Congo boss Sebastien Desabre has Yoane Wissa as his main threat (3).

Queiroz has a system that works

Carlos Queiroz took England to 0–0 and nobody saw it coming. Benjamin Asare kept a clean sheet against Harry Kane. The pre-match tension was real, Djed Spence refused to shake Thomas Partey's hand before kickoff, and Queiroz clashed with Jude Bellingham during the match. After the final whistle, Queiroz hit out at VAR, saying the officials were "on holiday." He does not care about the noise. Saturday is the kind of game he was hired for.