2026 World Cup: It's difficult to accept the defeat - Gideon Mensah after Black Stars' loss to Colombia

Ghana defender Gideon Mensah has admitted the Black Stars’ 1-0 defeat to Colombia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 32 is “hard to take” as their tournament came to an end in Kansas City.

Ghana were eliminated after conceding the decisive goal in the 14th minute, when Colombia forward Jhon Arias powered in a header shortly after right-back Marvin Senaya was forced off with a hamstring injury and replaced by Alidu Seidu.

Mensah, who delivered a steady performance on the left side of defence, said the team had gone into the match with confidence but struggled to recover after falling behind early.

“Coming into this game, we had so much belief in Ghana that we were going to do something…it’s a very hard defeat to take. They dominated the game since the beginning," he said.

He added that Ghana’s slow start proved costly.

“The time that we got into the game was a bit too late because we were down 1-0. I think the part that was killing us was that we gave them the chance to play from the beginning,” Mensah added.

The result ends Ghana’s World Cup campaign after reaching the knockout stage for the first time since the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

The Black Stars had finished third in Group L to progress from the group phase before bowing out at the first knockout hurdle.