World Cup 2026 Group L
GROUP L
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| Croatia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Ghana | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Panama | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Sean O'Conor
[Team Jersey Images © Soccerphile]
England
With the Premier League eclipsing all rivals and supplying finalists for all three European club competitions, is this the year the English national team takes gold at last?
'30 years of hurt' was the famous line in the song Three Lions but now make that 60 for the inventors of football. Still, Gareth Southgate's unorthodox reign hauled England back to the elite with two European Championship finals and one World Cup semi final, though ultimate victory eluded him.
In both Euro finals, England lost to slicker and more telepathic teams, while a missed penalty cost them in the Qatar World Cup quarter final. The Football Association have reverted to their foreign manager model with Thomas Tuchel, but this time the incumbent has an edge because he arrived with Premier League experience, unlike Sven-Goran Eriksson or Fabio Capello.
Last time the World Cup was in America, England was not even there so in getting the Three Lions across the pond in the first place, Tuchel at least deserves some credit. But once again, England had such a weak qualifying group they bossed with ease (no points dropped without conceding a goal) and in recent friendlies Tuchel used experimental elevens, so there was little to be gleaned. Are England good enough to win the World Cup? Nobody really knows.
In charge since the start of 2025, the 52-year-old German still feels unproven in the job, and now the real tests begin. At his squad announcement, we witnessed an unusually confident and self-assured England manager, smiling as he swatted away any questions surrounding his judgments and selections.
Dropping Phil Foden, whom Pep Guardiola has called the most talented player he has worked with, was bold, but justified by his lack of starts for Manchester City and ineffectual friendlies for England. Leaving Cole Palmer at home could equally be understood on the evidence of a lacklustre season, but the Chelsea man's ability to score unexpectedly on the big occasions (the Euro 2024 final and the 2025 World Club Cup final in America) leaves one doubting the wisdom of his omission.
The other questionable choice was not picking Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose defence-splitting long-range distribution is sans pareil, but Tuchel had made it clear for some time he was not a fan of his all-round game.
The squad is still full of talent, especially in attack where England seem overloaded. No defence will relish facing the matador Harry Kane, as goal-getting as ever, with penetrating picadors Anthony Gordon, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka on either side of him. Kane seemed to fade at Euro 2024 because he did not have pace around him, but that is no longer the case.
The midfield duo of Declan Rice and Eliot Anderson seems a perfectly decent role-based alternation of defensive space-control and forward passing, but as with many modern data-led teams, England might rue the lack of a creator or fantasista.
Many wish Tuchel had picked Morgan Gibbs-White, the Premier League's top scoring Englishman, who is not even a striker and could have offered something different and unpredictable to the team. A wild card who could dazzle if given the chance though is Arsenal attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze, who aged 27 should be at the peak of his powers.
Much will fall again on the shoulders of Jude Bellingham, who along with Kane is England's best player and carries the ball better than anyone in the side, but is still viewed somewhat as an unknown quantity, perhaps because like Owen Hargreaves he blossomed in overseas football.
It may sound perverse that Bellingham may not start, but Tuchel has made many encouraging noises about Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers, who may take his place as the No.10. Villa teammate Ollie Watkins, who scored the winner against the Dutch at Euro 2024, should be a useful impact sub once more.
As with 2018, the England defence is not a settled lineup and harder to judge. Tuchel would like to play John Stones, despite his lack of playing time, at centre-back with Marc Guehi, alongside the reliable Reece James at right back and talented but inexperienced Nico O'Reilly on the left. They all seem decent options but the 2006 model of Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, which was virtually impregnable, they are not.
One security is that the leaping salmon of Jordan Pickford will start in goal again.
Given his assuredness in his decision-making, one has to give Tuchel the benefit of the doubt for now. He has yet to lose an important match, which is when the familiar blame game will kick in as the press unsheathe their swords.
Tuchel was hired to be bolder than Southgate at key moments, attacking instead of defending like England did in the Euros final after Cole Palmer scored. Knockout football however is merciless and Tuchel must use all of his wisdom to judge when to throw caution to the wind because after the first stage it becomes sudden death.
 |
 |
|
England Kit 1 |
England Kit 2 |
England v Croatia, 17th June, Dallas
England v Ghana, 23rd June, Boston
England v Panama, 27th June, New Jersey
Coach
Coach: Thomas Tuchel
Record
Best World Cup: Winners 1966, Semi-Final 1990, 2018, Quarter Final 1962, 2002, 2006, 2022.
Formation
4-2-3-1
Men to watch: Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka.
England have what it takes to win the cup but they are in a pack of half a dozen genuine challengers. A semi-final finish is the safest bet.
How they qualified
UEFA Group K winners with eight wins out of eight and no goals conceded.
On the sidelines
England should feel at home in an English-speaking country, playing another one in Ghana in New England, in a town called Foxborough, named after an English politician named Charles Fox, who supported the American revolution.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Strikers: Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United*), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona on loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
*Anthony Gordon transferred after squad announced to Barcelona; Tino Livramento replaced by Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea) due to injury.
England v Croatia - A Rivalry Revisited
Croatia
The tablecloth shirts will be laid out in America doing their best to emulate their amazing achievements in recent World Cups - reaching the final in 2018 and the semi-final in 2022, extraordinary feats for a country of less than four million people.
Keeping the winning formula, Croatia still have the same coach Zlatko Dalić, that they had in 2017, while Luka Modrić, aged 40, remains the heartbeat of the team in 2026. The Milan midfielder may have lost some yards to age but retains the football brain that won him the Golden Ball in 2018.
The veterans' club continues with a forward three of 37-year-old Ivan Perišić, 34-year-old Andrej Kramaric and 34-year-old Ante Budimir. With the core so mature, the team's Achilles heel seems obvious. Add to that the American heat and it is hard to see them going the distance as in 2018.
One young arrival is increasingly hard to ignore however. Teenage centre back Luka Vušković, has impressed so much on loan at Hamburg from Tottenham, he has forced Dalić to change the shape to 3-4-2-1 to accommodate his talents. Other than Vušković, the only young Croat we might see in America is Benfica forward Franjo Ivanovic, aged 22, coming off the bench.
The rest of the defence is fluid, with Bayern's Josip Stanisic and Manchester City's Joško Gvardiol set to appear along with Ajax's Josip Šutalo and Real Sociedad's Duje Caleta-Car. City teammate Mateo Kovačić will man the middle alongside Modrić. In goal, Dinamo Zagreb's Dominik Livaković is a reliable shot-stopper.
There are injury worries going into the tournament however. Gvardiol, Kovačić and Vušković are all struggling for match fitness after Spring setbacks.
On the evidence of the last few years one must never underestimate Croatia and the spirit of the Vatreni (the fiery ones), who press hard, tackle harder and burn brightest at World Cups. Their system depends on simple virtues of hard work, applying muscle in defence and midfield, sharp passing, keeping formation and above all a never-say-die attitude.
This skill set also took them to the 2023 Nations League final but stalled at Euro 2024, drawing with Albania and Italy and losing to Spain. 2026 friendlies so far are inconclusive - a second string Croatian eleven beat Colombia 2-1 while a stronger lineup lost 3-1 to Brazil after conceding two late goals. What was evident in both games however was how Croatia are not in America to enjoy a golden generation's sunset but are rather determined to go far again in the tournament.
Croatia's World Cup begins with a big game against England in Texas, which they may lose. But then they should make light work of the Panamanians in Toronto, which has a notable expat Croatian community to cheer them on. Then comes Ghana in Philadelphia and it is hard to see them not making it to the knockout stages.
Beyond that do not bet against them going far again. This little nation's magic football formula has not run out yet.
 |
 |
|
Croatia Kit 1 |
Croatia Kit 2 |
Croatia v England, 17th June, Arlington (Dallas)
Croatia v Panama, 23rd June, Toronto
Croatia v Ghana, 27th June, Philadelphia
Coach
Record
Best World Cup: Runners-up 2018, Third place 1998, 2022.
Formation
4-2-3-1 or 3-4-2-1
Men to watch: Luka Modric, Luka Vuskovic, Joško Gvardiol, Ante Budimir.
Croatia are only 100/1 to win the World Cup. The general consensus is that they will go no further than the last eight. That said, too many people have written them off before and no-one should underestimate Vatreni's greatest era's desire for another cup run.
How they qualified
UEFA Group L winners. Their only dropped points came in a 0-0 draw away to the Czechs at the Fortuna Arena in Prague.
On the sidelines
After Uruguay, Croatia is the smallest nation by population to have reached the World Cup final and after the Netherlands, the smallest by land mass. The famous chessboard shirt design has debatable origins, and became the universal national symbol in the 19th century, replacing three lion heads.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Dominik Kotarski (Copenhagen), Ivor Pandur (Hull City)
Defenders: Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City), Duje Caleta-Car (Real Sociedad), Josip Sutalo (Ajax Amsterdam), Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich), Marin Pongracic (Fiorentina), Martin Erlic (Midtjylland), Luka Vuskovic (Hamburg)
Midfielders: Luka Modric (AC Milan), Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Luka Sucic (Real Sociedad), Martin Baturina (Como), Kristijan Jakic (Augsburg), Petar Sucic (Inter Milan), Nikola Moro (Bologna), Toni Fruk (Rijeka)
Strikers: Ivan Perisic (PSV Eindhoven), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marco Pasalic (Orlando City), Petar Musa (Dallas), Igor Matanovic (Freiburg)
Ghana
The Black Stars are back, hoping to improve on their group stage exits in 2014 and 2022, doubtless with sore memories of Luis Suarez's handball in 2010 stopping them becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semi finals.
Expectations are muted however. At the last World Cup, Ghana lost 3-2 to Portugal and beat South Korea by the same score, before a depressing 2-0 loss to Uruguay in Group H sent them home in the first round. Worst of all, they failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in a couple of decades
They qualified fine this time, topping their group of six, winning eight and drawing one, but since qualification, the Black Stars have played five and lost five, coming off second best to Japan, South Korea, Germany, Austria and Mexico, none of which bodes well for the summer. With barely a couple of months before the World Cup, the Ghanaian F.A. pulled the lever and fired Otto Addo as manager, replacing him with rent-an-international-coach Carlos Queiroz, his tenth such assignment.
Ghana traditionally play fluid one-twos as they advance upfield, have strength and good ball control. But they have been guilty of lethargic build-ups and defensive slip-ups recently, as the 5-1 thrashing by Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna showed.
And yet, they have a forward line that should alert most defences. Skipper Jordan Ayew, even though he has just been released by relegated Leicester, brings bags of English experience to the point of the attack, and in Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo, they have one of the Premier League's most dangerous wingers and Pep Guardiola's last big signing at the Etihad. Losing Tottenham attacker Mohammed Kudus to a quad injury was a loss but Athletic Bilbao's Iñaki Williams is an able deputy. Another sure starter, Monaco defender Mohammed Salisu, succumbed to an ACL tear.
Central midfield is the domain of Thomas Partey, now at Villareal after 132 appearances for Atletico Madrid and 130 for Arsenal. He has experience, but his partner could be 20-year-old Caleb Yirenki of Nordsjaelland, 12 years his junior, who lacks tournament time but has exuberance on his side.
Defence is a worry given the last few results so a lot will hinge on Spartak Moscow's Alexander Djiku to anchor the team. He has lost his usual centre-back partner to injury so will probably be alongside Nice's Kojo Peprah Oppong, a decade younger. The rest of the defence is not settled. PAOK's left-back Abdul Baba has 50 caps, while alternative Gideon Mensah has 39. On the other side, Queiroz could use the versatile Wolfsburg defender Jonas Adjetey, who has only nine caps but impressed with his energy and distribution.
The first-choice custodian is Benjamin Asare, the 33 year-old Hearts of Oak goalkeeper, who along with club teammate and fellow keeper Solomon Agbasi, has only played domestically.
Queiroz has only just landed in this job with barely two months to get ready for the greatest show on earth. In theory he does not have the time to find a settled system or starting eleven but the Portuguese will use his years of experience in different clubs and cultures to sort the wheat from the chaff and play to their strengths, anchoring the team around the senior players.
This may not be the Ghana of Abedi Pele, Stephen Appiah or Michael Essien, but once the starting whistle goes the Black Stars will go all out for victory. They are lucky to have their easiest match first against Panama, before sailing into choppier waters against one of the favourites in England and the 2022 semi-finalists in Croatia.
 |
 |
|
Ghana Kit 1 |
Ghana Kit 2 |
Ghana v Panama, 17th June, Toronto
Ghana v England, 23rd June, Boston
Ghana v Croatia, 27th June, Philadelphia
Coach
Carlos Queiroz
Record
Best World Cup: Quarter-Finalists 2010.
Formation
3-4-3 or 4-2-3-1
Men to watch: Antoine Semenyo, Caleb Yirenki, Jonas Adjetey.
500/1 to lift the trophy, Ghana are expected to struggle. They have been playing badly coming into the tournament, but it is too early to write them off. However, as it stands, they would look vulnerable in the Round of 32.
How they qualified
CAF Group I winner.
On the sidelines
In a book called The Fix, Canadian author Declan Hill asserted that Ghana were paid to throw a match at the 2006 World Cup. The allegation was strenuously denied and never proven.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Joseph Anang (St Patrick's Athletic), Benjamin Asare (Accra Hearts of Oak SC), Lawrence Ati-Zigi (St Gallen)
Defenders: Baba Abdul Rahman (PAOK), Gideon Mensah (Auxerre), Marvin Senaya (Auxerre), Alidu Seidu (Rennes), Abdul Mumin (Rayo Vallecano), Jerome Opoku (Istanbul Basaksehir), Jonas Adjetey (Wolfsburg), Kojo Oppong Peprah (Nice), Elisha Owusu (Auxerre), Derrick Luckassen (Pafos)
Midfielders: Thomas Partey (Villarreal), Kwasi Sibo (Real Oviedo), Augustine Boakye (Saint-Etienne), Caleb Yirenkyi (Nordsjaelland), Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (Leicester City)
Strikers: Kamaldeen Sulemana (Atalanta), Christopher Bonsu Baah (Al Qadsiah), Ernest Nuamah (Lyon), Antoine Semenyo (Manchester City), Brandon Thomas-Asante (Coventry City), Prince Kwabena Adu (Viktoria Plzen), Inaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Jordan Ayew (Leicester City)
Panama
The Canal Men have only been to one World Cup and it was not a night to remember. In 2018 they lost all three matches in Group G, scoring twice but conceding 11.
As luck would have it they are back to play England, who inflicted a 6-1 mauling on them in Russia eight years ago. But the Three Lions will be lucky to repeat that scoreline as Panama are a team transformed since then.
A 48-team jump in the FIFA rankings since 2020 is an impressive stat and the lion's share of the credit must go to the manager they hired that year who has been in the job ever since. Thomas Christensen, a Danish born Spanish international who was once Bundesliga top scorer, has brought stability and discipline to a hitherto ropey set-up.
Proving the wisdom of giving a manager time in a job, Christensen has transformed them from no-hopers to decent competitors. The defence is tighter and meaner than before, the overall shape, tracking back and pressing are sound too but they can score as well. Last year they hit three, four and five in games in June, albeit against regional opposition.
Their skipper and midfield anchor is Aníbal Godoy, who plays with San Diego in MLS. Dripping with experience, he has 159 caps, a national record and aged 36 is not about to slow down, especially as fellow midfielder Alberto Quintero is 38. His central partner is the real one to keep tabs on though. Adalberto 'Coco' Carrasquilla is the team's spark - the running man who drives the attack forward and creates danger.
Coco has 2018 veteran midfielder Yoel Bárcenas to call on for support plus speedy wingman Ismael Diaz. The lone striker job belongs to another thirty-something, Cecilio Waterman, who plays in Chile. There had been hopes that young forward Kadir Barria would be called up for his youthful exuberance but the 18 year-old missed the cut.
Improvements have been evident in the annual CONCACAF Nations League where Panama finished fourth in 2023 and 2024 before narrowly losing the final to Mexico at SoFi Stadium in the U.S. last year having knocked out both Costa Rica and the USA.
In CONCACAF's 2023 Gold Cup, Panama also eliminated the Americans before losing to Mexico in the final but in the latest edition in 2025, they went out in the quarters having lost a penalty shootout to Honduras at State Farm Stadium.
The team has been busy, playing 15 times in 2025 and will have played seven times in 2026 before the World Cup begins. This year they have drawn with Bolivia and South Africa (at Moses Mabhida Stadium), beaten Bafana in their second match 2-1 in Cape Town and lost narrowly again to Mexico, inevitably, at home at the Estadio Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez.
The lesson from these clashes is that they will be keeping it tight in the summer. At the World Cup, the Canal Men will most likely sit back and try to frustrate before hitting on the break. Brazenly taking the game to the Croats and English would be folly but it is easy to forget they are ranked 41 places above Ghana, whom they play first.
Their first clash with the Black Stars in Toronto is the key match - come out of that with a win and they will have the confidence to tackle Croatia, with the added bonus of not having to leave Canada. Toronto to New York for their final group game is not a long haul either, but England will prove too strong for them again.
Winning their first ever World Cup match is not out of the question and nor is achieving their other goal of getting out of the first round. This is a much improved Panama from the last time we saw them at the finals.
 |
 |
|
Panama Kit 1 |
Panama Kit 2 |
Panama v Ghana, 17th June, Toronto
Panama v Croatia, 23rd June, Toronto
Panama v England, 27th June, New Jersey
Coach
Thomas Christiansen
Record
Best World Cup: Group Stage 2018.
Formation
3-4-2-1
Men to watch: Adalberto Carrasquilla, Aníbal Godoy, Cecilio Waterman, Ismail Diaz.
1500/1 would be a real long shot to win the cup. A first-round exit is possible but the Canal Men could make it to the round of 32. Going further looks unlikely.
How they qualified
CONCACAF 3rd Round Group A Winners.
On the sidelines
Like Australia or Canada, Panama is one of the few countries at the World Cup where the Beautiful Game is not top dog. A 2024 national survey found 48% of Panamanians listed baseball as their favourite sport compared to 30% who said football.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Orlando Mosquera (Al-Fayha Club), Luis Mejia (Club Nacional, Uruguay), Cesar Samudio (Marathón, Honduras)
Defenders: Cesar Blackman (Slovan Bratislava), Jorge Gutierrez (Deportivo La Guaira), Amir Murillo (Beşiktaş), Fidel Escobar (Saprissa), Andres Andrade (LASK, Austria), Edgardo Farina (FK Khimki), Jose Cordoba (Norwich City), Eric Davis (Plaza Amador), Jiovany Ramos (Puerto Cabello on loan from CAI), Roderick Miller (Turan Tovuz)
Midfielders: Anibal Godoy (San Diego), Adalberto Carrasquilla (Club Universidad Nacional), Carlos Harvey (Minnesota United FC), Cristian Martinez (Ironi Kiryat Shmona), Jose Luis Rodriguez (Juárez, MX), Cesar Yanis (Cobresal [Chile] on loan from Costa Rican club San Carlos), Yoel Barcenas (Mazatlán), Alberto Quintero (C.D. Plaza Amador), Azarias Londono (Universidad Católica on loan from Alianza)
Strikers: Ismael Diaz (León, Mexico), Cecilio Waterman (Universidad de Concepción, Chile), Jose Fajardo (Universidad Catolica del Ecuador on loan from CAI), Tomas Rodriguez (Saprissa on loan from Sporting San Miguelito)