A Witch Doctor Warned Harry Kane Would Miss. Then He Did. Coincidence?

Harry Kane had the ball on his left foot. The goal was wide open. England needed one goal to beat Ghana and top their World Cup group. He sent it over the crossbar. Air. Nothing but air.

Most people saw a world-class striker having a bad moment. But a lot of people in Ghana saw something else. They saw a curse working exactly as promised.

Before the match, Ghana’s most famous witch doctor Nana Kwaku Bonsam went public with his plan. He said he would put a hex on Kane. Not to hurt him, but to stop him. And considering Kane didn’t score on that 86th-minute sitter, it’s hard to argue the result.

The witch doctor who cursed Ronaldo

This isn’t Bonsam’s first time messing with a global soccer star. Back in 2014, he put a curse on Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo before a World Cup match. Ronaldo ended up playing through a knee injury in that tournament. The hex worked then too, at least according to the people who believe in that kind of thing.

Bonsam was careful this time around. He didn’t want to hurt Kane. He just wanted to make sure Ghana got something out of the game.

“I am not wishing him serious injury,” Bonsam said. “It will be just enough to stop him against my country. I will do my work so that it can help Ghana.”

And it did. England and Ghana played to a 0-0 draw. That point was enough for Ghana to advance to the knockout stage for the first time in their history.

How the miss happened

The play itself was pure chaos. England left back Nico O’Reilly headed a ball that clanged off the crossbar. It bounced perfectly to Kane standing maybe six yards out. With the keeper out of position and a wide open net, Kane lifted it over the bar like he was trying to clear a tall fence.

Kane had scored two goals in England’s previous match. He put up 61 goals for Bayern Munich this season. The guy doesn’t usually miss those. But he did.

Was it nerves? Pressure? Bad luck? Or a witch doctor?

The Daily Star reported the curse story before the game, so it’s not like this is something people made up after the fact. Bonsam announced his intentions. Kane missed. Ghana advanced.

Now the question is whether Bonsam has already started working on Croatia’s Luka Modric. Ghana plays Croatia on June 27. If Modric suddenly can’t find the net, you know what people are going to say.