Africa’s World Cup surge fades as Ghana falls to Colombia, leaving Morocco and Egypt still standing

KANSAS CITY: Africa set a record by sending nine of its teams to the knockout rounds of the World Cup. Seven of them were knocked out in the first round.
Ghana were the last African team to play in the Round of 32 on Friday night, and the white-clad Black Stars went down with a whimper in a 1-0 loss to Colombia.

That left only Morocco, which made a surprising run to the semifinals four years ago in Qatar, and Egypt to carry the hopes of the continent when they play for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Morocco face Canada in the first Round of 16 matchup on Saturday in Houston. Egypt survived a shootout with Australia earlier on Friday to earn a date with Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina on Tuesday in Atlanta.
La Albiceleste nearly made history of their own at the expense of Cape Verde on Friday, when the tiny island nation off the western coast of Africa took them to extra time.
Argentina ultimately prevailed 3-2 in one of the best matches of the tournament.
“It’s a source of great pride so many African teams qualified for the round of 32,” Congo coach Sébastien Desabre said.
Africa has never sent three teams to the Round of 16.