Did a witch doctor hex England’s Harry Kane? Ghana’s World Cup ‘curse’ goes viral after 0-0 draw

ARLINGTON, June 24 — Harry Kane failed to find the net, England failed to beat Ghana, and suddenly one of football’s strangest pre-match boasts looked eerily well timed.

Just days before England’s World Cup clash with Ghana, the West African nation’s self-proclaimed witch doctor Nana Kwaku Bonsam vowed he was “working on” Kane to stop the England captain from scoring.

Ninety frustrating minutes later, Kane walked off empty-handed after England were held to a 0-0 draw — and social media was awash with jokes that the spell had worked.

According to the Daily Star, Bonsam — whose name translates as “Devil of Wednesday” — claimed before the match that he knew exactly what he needed to do to neutralise England’s biggest attacking threat.

“I am working on Harry Kane,” he said.

“I have shown what I am capable of before so I know what work I must do to stop him.

“I am very famous for my predictions.

“I am not wishing him serious injury. It will be just enough to stop him against my country.”

Whether it was magic or simply one of football’s many twists of fate, Ghana executed their game plan to perfection.

England controlled possession for long spells but struggled to create clear-cut chances, while Kane squandered one of the best opportunities of the night after Nico O’Reilly rattled the crossbar.

The goalless draw left both teams on four points in Group L, with Ghana now on the brink of reaching the World Cup knockout stage for the first time since their memorable run to the quarter-finals in 2010.

It is far from the first time Bonsam has inserted himself into football folklore.

Ahead of Ghana’s meeting with Portugal at the 2014 World Cup, he famously claimed responsibility for Cristiano Ronaldo’s troublesome knee injury, insisting he had used supernatural powers to derail the Portuguese superstar.

“I know what Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury is about, I’m working on him,” Bonsam claimed at the time.

“I said it four months ago that I will work on Cristiano Ronaldo seriously and rule him out of the World Cup or at least prevent him.”