World Cup 2026 – Group L guide: England aim to end 60 years of hurt from group of familiar foes and troubled Ghana | OneFootball

At long last, we come to Group L of World Cup 2026, where England reside and Thomas Tuchel will hope to steer them safely into the knockouts, preserving as much energy as possible for the challenges ahead.

An opening game against 2018 runners-up Croatia will set the tone for this group and in a rematch of that memorable World Cup semi-final eight years ago, the Three Lions will be eager for a different result. If they repeat the 6-1 victory over Panama from the group stage of that edition in Russia though, they’ll be more than satisfied.

This Panama team look like a tougher nut than their predecessors but, conversely, Ghana are not the same force they were when only the hand of Luis Suarez denied them a semi-final spot in 2010. There is value in winning Group L, given that the runners-up would likely be on a collision course with tournament favourites Spain in the last 16.

Group L fixtures

(all times BST)

17 June, 9pm: England v Croatia – AT&T Stadium, Arlington

18 June, 12am: Ghana v Panama – BMO Field, Toronto

23 June, 9pm: England v Ghana – Gillette Stadium, Foxborough

24 June, 12am: Panama v Croatia – BMO Field, Toronto

27 June, 10pm: Panama v England – MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford

27 June, 10pm: Croatia v Ghana – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia

England

It’s now 60 years since England’s lone World Cup success – an accomplishment that is becoming increasingly irrelevant given that those who remember it are now all of retirement age and 1966 is closer to the sinking of the Titanic than to today.

More pertinent is England’s recent World Cup record, with semi-final and quarter-final defeats at the last two editions (plus runner-up finishes at each of the past two Euros) meaning Thomas Tuchel is the man tasked with completing the work that Gareth Southgate started. Can a German finally end English football’s six decades of hurt?

In Harry Kane, Tuchel has Europe’s most prolific striker over the past 12 months, plus plenty more quality woven throughout the team. Yet, despite an impeccable qualifying record that saw them win all eight games without conceding a single goal, there is a nagging feeling that the Three Lions are just a slight level below the very best sides in the world, such as Spain and France, and that they might wilt in the North American heat. Only time will tell.

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Harry Kane is the man that makes England tick (Reuters)

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), James Trafford (Manchester City)

Defenders: Reece James (Chelsea), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), John Stones (Manchester City), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Dan Burn (Newcastle), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Ivan Toney (Al Ahli)

Star player – Harry Kane, Bayern Munich: Appears to be in the form of his life at the age of 32 and is right in the Ballon d’Or hunt after scoring a staggering 61 goals for Bayern Munich in all competitions and helping them to a domestic double. His goalscoring and ability to drop deep to link up play make him the key to this England side.

Breakout talent – Nico O’Reilly, Manchester City: A breakout campaign at club level that saw Man City fans vote the 21-year-old as their player of the season, O’Reilly racked up a phenomenal nine goals and six assists while playing mostly at left-back. A classy ball-player, he looks set to start at full-back for Tuchel’s side but is also an option in midfield if required.

Fifa ranking: 4.

Odds to win the World Cup: 15/2, latest odds at The Independent via Oddsjam.

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Thomas Tuchel will try to end 60 years of England hurt (Reuters)

Croatia

This is likely one last rodeo for a slew of Croatian warhorses such as Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic, Andrej Kramaric, Dominik Livakovic and, of course, talismanic 40-year-old captain Luke Modric.

Runners-up in 2018 and semi-finalists in 2022 is a remarkable return for this golden generation, so do they have enough in the tank to go deep again or are they slightly over the hill? Common wisdom says potentially the latter but there are young talents such as Josko Gvardiol and Luka Vuskovic dotted among the veteran nous.

They cruised unbeaten through a friendly group in qualification with seven wins and one draw and coach Zlatko Dalic will be quietly confident his team can make some noise in North America.

A defeat in the opening game against England would pile a bit of pressure on however, as while Ghana are probably tougher on paper than in reality, a slightly underrated Panama are potentially trickier in real life than they may first appear. Croatia should still qualify for the knockouts relatively comfortably but how much further can they genuinely go?

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At the age of 40, Luka Modric is still going strong (Reuters)

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Dominik Kotarski (FC Copenhagen), Ivor Pandur (Hull)

Defenders: Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City), Duje Caleta-Car (Real Sociedad), Josip Sutalo (Ajax), 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), Nikola Moro (Bologna), Toni Fruk (Rijeka)

Forwards: Ivan Perisic (PSV), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marco Pasalic (Orlando City), Petar Musa (Dallas), Igor Matanovic (Freiburg)

Coach: Zlatko Dalic

Star player – Luka Modric, AC Milan: The ageless wonder is still going strong into his 40s, now pulling the strings for AC Milan after iconic spells with Real Madrid and Tottenham. He enters his fifth World Cup having won the Golden Ball as Croatia lost in the final in 2018 and also led them to the semi-finals four years ago. Can he finally get an ageing side over the hump?

Breakout talent – Luka Vuskovic, Hamburg: Just 19 years old, the Tottenham centre-back has excelled on loan at Hamburg this season, being named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season after a stellar campaign and is attracting interest from the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Physically imposing, aerially dominant and a great reader of the game, Vuskovic is also a threat from set-pieces – scoring six goals for Hamburg and netting his first Croatia goal against Colombia in March.

Fifa ranking: 11.

Odds to win the World Cup: 80/1.

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Luka Vuskovic is one of Croatia’s best young talents (Getty)

Ghana

The ghost of 2010 still hangs over Ghanaian football when they were agonisingly, heartbreakingly close to becoming the first African side to reach the World Cup semi-finals, only for Luis Suarez to save a surefire winning goal on the line illegally with his hand, right at the end of extra time. Asamoah Gyan clattered the crossbar with the penalty and Uruguay then won the shootout to send the Black Stars home.

It has been a fairly unremarkable World Cup record for Ghana since then – group-stage exits in 2014 and 2022, plus a failure to qualify in 2018 – but they breezed through qualifying this time round, with eight wins and a draw from 10 games.

However, this may be fool’s gold given they failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, having suffered group-stage exits in 2023 and 2021, and have endured five losses and a limp draw with Wales in their six friendlies since sealing a spot in North America this summer.

Veteran coach Carlos Queiroz does have some attacking quality to call upon, most notably Man City’s Antoine Semenyo, plus Inaki Williams, Kamaldeen Sulemana and captain Jordan Ayew, while the controversial Thomas Partey pulls the strings in midfield but they look weak at the back and lack real depth across the squad. Their World Cup chances rest almost entirely on the opening group game against Panama in Toronto.

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Antoine Semenyo will hope to take his club form for Man City on to the international stage (Getty)

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Benjamin Asare (Accra Hearts of Oak), Lawrence Ati-Zigi (St. Gallen), Joseph Anang (St. Patrick’s Athletic)

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), Derrick Luckassen (Pafos), Elisha Owusu (Auxerre)

Midfielders: Thomas Partey (Villarreal), Kwasi Sibo (Real Oviedo), Augustine Boakye (Saint-Etienne), Caleb Yirenkyi (FC Nordsjaelland), Abdul Fatawu (Leicester)

Forwards: Kamaldeen Sulemana (Atlanta), Christopher Bonsu Baah (Al Qadsiah), Ernest Nuamah (Lyon), Antoine Semenyo (Manchester City), Brandon Thomas-Asante (Coventry), Prince Kwabena Adu (Viktoria Plzen), Inaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Jordan Ayew (Leicester)

Star player – Antoine Semenyo, Manchester City: Brilliant for Bournemouth in the first half of the season and just as impressive after his January move to Man City, where he was the match-winner in the FA Cup final, Semenyo can provide the creative spark for this Ghana team. Strong, fast and with an eye for goal, how he links up with the likes of Inaki Williams and Jordan Ayew in attack will be crucial for Ghana’s chances

Breakout talent – Caleb Yirenkyi, Nordsjaelland: Box-to-box midfielder Yirenkyi is the youngest member of Ghana’s World Cup squad at just 20 but has already racked up 11 caps since his Black Stars debut 12 months ago and scored his first international goal in the World Cup warm-up against Wales. Has shone in the heart of midfield for Danish side Nordsjaelland after coming through the famous Right to Dream academy that produced the likes of Mohammed Kudus and Kamaldeen Sulemana and is now attracting the attention of Porto. Will hope to make things tick from the engine room.

Fifa ranking: 73.

Odds to win the World Cup: 500/1.

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Caleb Yirenkyi (right) could be a young star that shines for Ghana at this World Cup (Getty)

Panama

Panama head to a second World Cup in their history, determined to improve on a slightly disastrous 2018 campaign where they conceded 11 goals and scored just two in finishing rock-bottom of the group.

That tournament included a 6-1 battering at the hands of England and they’ll have the opportunity for redemption in a rematch with the Three Lions this time round.

An experienced squad have actually produced some impressive results in recent years, beating the USA en route to the 2023 Gold Cup final before narrowly losing to Mexico, finishing as runners-up in last year’s Concacaf Nations League and remaining unbeaten throughout World Cup qualifying.

Coach Thomas Christiansen has fashioned a side that are hard to break down and their world ranking of 33 shows they can’t be taken lightly. Beating Ghana and potentially sneaking through to the knockout stage is a realistic target.

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Anibal Godoy captains Panama and is the most-capped player in their history (Reuters)

Goalkeepers: Orlando Mosquera (Al-Fayha), Luis ⁠Mejia (Nacional), Cesar Samudio (Marathon)

Defenders: Cesar Blackman (Slovan Bratislava), Jorge Gutierrez (Deportivo La Guaira), Amir Murillo (Besiktas), Fidel Escobar (Saprissa), Andres Andrade (LASK), Edgardo Farina (Pari Nizhny Novgorod), Jose Cordoba (Norwich), Eric Davis (Plaza Amador), Jiovany Ramos (Puerto Cabello), Roderick Miller (Turan Tovuz)

Midfielders: Anibal ‌Godoy (San Diego), Adalberto Carrasquilla (UNAM), Carlos ​Harvey (Minnesota United), Cristian Martinez (Ironi Kiryat Shmona), Jose Luis ‌Rodriguez (Juarez), Cesar Yanis (Cobresal), Yoel Barcenas (Mazatlan), Alberto ​Quintero (Plaza Amador), Azarias Londono (Universidad Catolica)

Forwards: Ismael Diaz (Leon), Cecilio Waterman (Universidad de Concepcion), Jose Fajardo (Universidad Catolica), Tomas Rodriguez (Saprissa)

Coach: Thomas Christiansen

Star player – Anibal Godoy, San Diego FC: Godoy will captain Panama 16 years on from his international debut, having won nearly 160 caps, and he remains a key cog sitting in front of the defence at 36 years of age. His leadership will also be crucial if Los Canaleros are to improve on their 2018 performances.

Breakout talent – Jose Cordoba, Norwich City: Panama have opted for experience, with none of their players under the age of 24, but defender Cordoba – who had a very good end to the club season for Norwich in the Championship – only turned 25 a week before the World Cup and will be crucial to ensuring their defence holds as firm as possible. Comfortable on the ball and a physical presence, he is already starting to attract Premier League attention that would only intensify with a good World Cup.

Fifa ranking: 33.

Odds to win the World Cup: 1500/1.

The England-Croatia opener looms large in deciding the destination of the group. That could easily be a draw and leave a chase for goal difference to top the pile but we’ll give a slight edge to England, with Croatia finishing second. Ghana versus Panama is equally important and almost too tough to call, so we’ll say that’s a draw that ultimately sees both sides miss out on qualifying as one of the best third-placed teams.