World Cup 2026: England overwhelming favourites to win group but Thomas Tuchel must overcome added challenge | OneFootball

Three Lions will begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia

Thomas Tuchel watched on at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center as England were drawn into a four-team group they will be overwhelming favourites to win. It was never going to be any other way.

A draw ceremony of almost satirical levels of pomp and circumstance — which lasted all of two hours and 15 minutes — placed England in Group L, the very last group.

Familiar faces await. They meet Croatia, their conquerors at the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, as well as Ghana and Panama.

England’s World Cup group in full

Sam Corum/PA Wire

But in a World Cup that spans such vast distances across three humongous countries and where summer temperatures will be scorching, almost as relevant as who England will be playing is where.

England will face Croatia in their opener on June 17 in either Toronto or Texas, then Ghana on June 23 in Toronto or Boston, and finally Panama in New York or Philadelphia. A report by FIFPRO, the global representative organisation for professional footballers, listed six host cities as posing an “extremely high risk” of heat stress for players, and England have avoided all of those venues — at least for the group stage. The heat will still be an almighty challenge, and was always going to be.

The specific venues for England’s group games will be decided in a second draw on Saturday, as is in keeping with an edition of the World Cup that FIFA are absolutely not doing by halves.

And for England fans, potentially some good news. All of those venues bar Texas in on Eastern Time, meaning group-stage travel and costs could have been higher than they are now likely to be.

Win their group and England will play a team that finished third in their group in the (and it’s surreal this even exists) round of 32. Then they would face either another third-placed team or the winner of Group A (possibly co-hosts Mexico) in the last 16. A rather mouthwatering quarter-final meeting with Brazil in Miami on July 11 could follow.

And they will not be able to face Spain, France or defending champions Argentina until the semi-finals at the earliest, provided all four win their groups. FIFA have adopted tennis-style seeding to keep the favourites apart — largely to try to protect their pristine product.

If England fail to finish top of their group, that is all out of the window, of course. Their journey through the knockouts would be far more complicated, and likely more difficult.

England are among the favourites to win next summer’s World Cup

AFP via Getty Images

England have been thrown an added challenge, or at least a complication, by the schedule of their group games. On the face of it, the fixtures only get easier as England go through them, and this has not always been a recipe for success.

At Brazil 2014, admittedly in the group of death, England opened with Italy, then faced Uruguay, and then the group minnows Costa Rica. Roy Hodgson’s men lost to the first two and were already out by the time they drew 0-0 with Costa Rica, the plucky underdogs who won the group.

There will be immense pressure to get that opening game against Croatia right. But England will be favourites and though possessing bad memories of World Cup exit to them in 2018 in the semis under Gareth Southgate, they can take heart from having beaten them at their most recent tournament meeting, and in a tournament opener, no less. England’s first game at the delayed Euro 2020 saw them edge past the Croats 1-0 at Wembley.

They also thrashed Panama 6-1 in the group stage in Russia, so have precedent for beating the North American outfit. England have never faced Ghana at a tournament, and their only previous meeting was a friendly draw in 2011.

Tuchel’s team have more than enough to win Group L. They have enough to win the entire tournament. The completion of a truly extraordinary World Cup draw makes it all feel real, and sets them on their way.