UNITED STATES -- Ghana went into their final group game against Croatia on Saturday knowing that results elsewhere have already secured them their place in the World Cup knockout stages for the first time since 2010.
Ghana's four points in the bag meant that even if they lost to Croatia, they will still finish higher than at least four teams in the third-place rankings,a nd that was how it played out.
Meanwhile, Africa's sides have been the heart-warming story of this World Cup, with Cape Verde becoming the smallest country by population to ever reach the knockouts, and South Africa did the most against South Korea to set up a last 32 tie against Canada.
As it stands, the only African side out of the running is Tunisia, who lost all three of their group matches by heady margins. But Algeria and the DRC are still in the running too, and we could see an astonishing nine African sides adavancing.
