World Cup Group L notes ....written and sent to subscribers on Monday (08:24)
Jun 23, 2026
Group L
England - Ghana (Boston)
Panama - Croatia (Toronto)
Everyone (outside of the Balkans) was thrilled by the England-Croatia game ( 4-2) and the brave approach taken by Thomas Tuchel and co, putting up some great offensive numbers....20 attempts ITB, 11 on target, with 7 BC's and an xGF of 3.2. However, they conceded twice from very little and showed a defensive frailty that is a real concern going forward. They have had to move up to Boston out of the air conditioned comfort of Dallas, but have dodged a real bullet, as conditions in Massachusetts are almost perfect, with the weather at kick off forecast to be 22-23 degrees, with a little rain and light breeze. Ghana opened with a 1-0 win over Panama in Toronto, scoring in the 96th minute in a game where they were second best for much and in the first half they registered just one attempt on goal, which narrowly missed the corner flag (!) and were not much better after the break! It was a stinker of a game TBH, Panama were devastated not to collect a first ever WC point and were the better team, but I am not sure how much that is saying. Ghana are FIFA ranked #74 and looked exactly of that level and ahead of the tournament starting I had written ....
Ghana's all-time low ranking is 89 and they are not too far off that and have fallen on hard times, not making it out of the group stage at their last two WC's, or at their last two AFCON's , missing out completely and failing to qualify at the most recent (January). Antoine Semenyo is the only genuine star nowadays, they have a few older/underperforming "names" but this is a group/nation that has lost its way. They qualified easily through a section containing Mali, but they are another nation in decline. Ghanaian football both domestically and internationally is in a mess and it lacks leadership or direction and has been labelled a "broken dream" by local football reporters. Of course, a good showing here could kick start something, but 7-8 of the squad are coming off relegation campaigns with their clubs and there is very little upbeat to report.
Panama got a more upbeat write up .....
Panama are based in Ontario where they start against Ghana and then face Croatia and then have a short trip over to New Jersey to play England and that seems an ideal schedule. This is their second WC, they lost all three games,by a combined 2-11 in 2018.They will feel at home here as they play CONCACAF Gold Cup football every two years either in the US or Canada and made the final in 2023 and QF (unbeaten, won all three group games, lost on penalties) last year. The big three CONCACAF nations were missing from qualifying so we cannot read too much into that, but they did so with ease. No big names but they have 17 players with 50+ caps and a lot of those games will have been played in the US and are a well drilled group.
Hard to see how Ghana are going to adopt anything but a park the bus approach and look to frustrate England as they are kind of the tactics they used against Panama! They do not have a lot by way of Plan B it seems and they have lost the last ten games in which they have conceded first (but did score in five), including two against UEFA opposition, 2-1 to Germany and 5-1 to Austria. Marc Guehi should bring a little more stability to the England backline and if they can score first, should be able to run in 1-2-3 more and continue to build momentum.
If I am being unkind, Croatia looked a little past their sell by date and Luka Modric struggled to impose himself and was a lost figure in the physical midfield battles, being substituted before the hour mark. England had more options, won more second balls and were quicker and more physical, it will be (very) difficult for Panama to do the same of course and Croatia are savvy and, at least for the time being a strong tournament side (B2B WC semis and one final), but did concede in each game at the last Euros and went out at the group stage and they are on a run currently of seven games without a clean sheet including against nations ranked 56/80/123 and Panama are #33.
2 units Panama - Croatia both teams to score @ 2.08 asian line.
2 units England -2 goals @ 2.17 asian line......3-0.
Good luck!
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