England and Ghana will battle for supremacy in Group L of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as they meet at the Boston Stadium on the evening of Tuesday, 23 June. Kick-off is at 10pm CAT.
FORM
England underlined their status as one of the tournament favourites when they defeated Croatia (third-place finishers in 2022) 4-2 at Dallas Stadium last Wednesday evening. Harry Kane scored twice in the first half to put the Three Lions 1-0 and 2-1 up, but Croatia twice levelled to see the game locked at 2-2 at the interval.
Yet in the second half, England’s power and depth (with the likes of Morgan Rogers and Bukayo Saka coming off the bench) saw them surge to victory on the back of strikes from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford (another substitute).
It was by no means a perfect performance from Thomas Tuchel’s team, but rarely have the Three Lions made such an emphatic statement of intent early in a major tournament. The German tactician has a couple of issues to remedy, with many pundits urging for Marc Guehi and Rashford to come into the starting line-up, though it would be no surprise if he stuck to the same XI.
Ghana got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start, as they defeated Panama 1-0 in Toronto on Thursday morning. A tepid and frustrating match in which few chances were created at either end was ultimately decided deep in injury time when Brandon Thomas-Asante teed up Caleb Yirenkyi to poke home a winner.
Black Stars coach Carlos Queiroz would have been delighted with the result, but less enamoured with the performance. Facing a team of England’s quality will no doubt inspire the West Africans to lift their game, but adding someone like Thomas-Asante to the line-up could be just the injection of energy and ambition that they need.
WHAT THE TEAMS ARE SAYING
England coach Thomas Tuchel
“We are so strong from the bench and I was so impressed with everyone against Costa Rica because they pushed on the buttons and pushed on the gas and kept suffocating the opponent. We needed this quality against Croatia to bring it over the line. I know they are all starters. They buy into this idea that we do it as a team.”
Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz
“We have to suffer; there is no other way. We must be ready to make sacrifices. You have to be ready to pay the price because a win in this World Cup is very expensive. But the boys are ready to pay that price. Very expensive.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
England – Harry Kane
Two goals and a great all-round performance against Croatia marked Harry Kane out as England’s danger man. The Bayern Munich forward is not just a great finisher, but often drifts into deeper positions and frees up space for runners from the Three Lions’ midfield to go beyond him.
Ghana – Antoine Semenyo
The Manchester City winger may have struggled to assert himself against Panama, but he will be hungry to make a mark against the nation of his birth. Semenyo’s directness and aggression in attack will provide a problem for England’s defence.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
England and Ghana have met in just one previous match: an international friendly in March 2011 at Wembley Stadium, which ended 1-1 after goals from Andy Carroll and Asamoah Gyan.