Colombia vs. Ghana: How can Luis Diaz succeed where Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham's England failed at World Cup 2026?

Colombia are set to face Ghana at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium in the early hours of Saturday morning UK time, for a well-poised World Cup 2026 round of 32 clash.

Los Cafeteros qualified for the knockout stage as the winners of Group K, drawing 0-0 with Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in their final outing, while the Black Stars went through from Group L as one of the best third-placed nations after losing 2-1 to Croatia.

Bayern Munich winger Luis Diaz is the talisman for Nestor Lorenzo's side, though he will have his work cut out to break down Carlos Querioz's notorious low block that denied even England's superstar duo of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

Here, ahead of this round of 32 tie, Sports Mole takes a look at how Colombia can triumph where the Three Lions failed.

Why did England struggle against Ghana in the group stage?

Thomas Tuchel's Three Lions endured a frustrating day out in Foxborough, where they were held to a goalless stalemate by Ghana on June 23.

England found themselves lacking a creative spark when faced with the Black Stars' deep block, and were arguably lucky to escape with a point considering they could have conceded a penalty and had Jordan Pickford sent off in separate incidents.

The European giants tried to find a breakthrough using their wingers, but none of Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashord or Bukayo Saka could provide one.

Tuchel controversially left expert passers such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Adam Wharton out of his final 26-man squad for World Cup 2026, something that drew widespread criticism before the tournament kicked off.

Fielding at least one technical passer in the centre of the park can help to force a stalwart defence out of its settled shape, and England sorely missed that profile when confronted by Ghana's block.

How did Croatia beat Ghana on matchday three of the group stage?

Ghana lost just once during their group-stage campaign, winning their opener 1-0 against Panama and drawing with England before being downed by Croatia on June 27.

Zlatko Dalic's Blazers took the lead in the first half through Petar Sucic, who found the back of the net with a brilliant strike from distance that nestled in the bottom-left corner.

The Black Stars were not content to surrender, though, and pegged the 2018 finalists back to 1-1 courtesy of Derrick Luckassen, who got on the end of Ernest Nuamah's curled free kick to slot in an equaliser with less than 20 minutes to play.

However, another set piece brought Croatia all three points when Torino's Nikola Vlasic headed home Luka Modric's corner late in the day.

All in all, the Blazers were limited to taking just three of their eight shots from inside the box, but their technicians were able to make the most of their set plays while using the space afforded by Ghana's defensive setup to let fly from distance.

How can Luis Diaz's Colombia unlock Ghana in the World Cup's round of 32?

A throughline between all of Ghana's group-stage games was their ability to deny opponents space close to their goal, something that could be a major issue for the likes of Diaz.

The former Liverpool star excels at carrying the ball with a level of directness and pace that can hurt defences in transition, but he has struggled against deep backlines in the past.

All of England's wingers proved ineffective when facing the Black Stars, yet Croatia found a way to win despite being forced to take the majority of their shots from outside the penalty area.

In order to create the space necessary for Diaz to be at his best, then Colombia will need to provide a serious threat when shooting from distance, while further forcing Queiroz's side out of their shape with slick passing.

That being said, it remains to be seen whether they can match the technical prowess shown by Croatia in the centre of the park, and Los Cafeteros' attempts to shift around a stubborn Ghana defence will be the key battle in this tie.