England and Ghana both won their openers and meet at Gillette Stadium knowing a win guarantees a place in the round of 32. The game kicks off at 1:30am IST on Wednesday.
Group L has a leader and a challenger going head to head, and only one of them will walk away in control. England and Ghana both won their openers, both sit on three points, and when they meet at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough the winner takes a firm grip on the group. For fans in India, the game kicks off at 1:30am IST on Wednesday.
This is the match that shapes the group. England top it on goal difference after a 4-2 win over Croatia, Ghana are right behind them having squeezed past Panama 1-0 in Toronto. Three points here would guarantee a place in the round of 32 with a game still to play.
England carrying the goals, and a question
Thomas Tuchel’s side arrived with a near-flawless record. England won all eight of their European qualifiers, scoring 22 and conceding none, and they picked up where they left off by putting four past Croatia. Harry Kane already has two goals at the tournament and remains the man everything runs through.
The one wrinkle is what happened at the other end. A defence that did not concede across qualifying shipped two against Croatia, and Tuchel will not have enjoyed watching his side switch off after building a lead. Ghana do not carry Croatia’s attacking pedigree, but a back line that drifts will give any World Cup opponent a way in.
Queiroz has Ghana defending for their lives
Ghana are managed by Carlos Queiroz, a coach who has spent a career making limited sides hard to beat, and the 1-0 over Panama was exactly the kind of low-scoring, well-drilled result he tends to produce. The concern for Ghana is what happens when they face real firepower. Their build-up to the tournament was rough, with a 5-1 hammering by Austria and a 2-0 loss to Mexico exposing a soft centre.
Keep England quiet and the Black Stars give themselves a real chance, because at the other end they have the pace to hurt a high line on the break. The problem is that nobody has managed to keep England quiet yet, and Queiroz knows a single lapse against Kane is usually punished.
What is on the line
The maths is simple. Win and you are through, with the luxury of a dead rubber in the final round. Draw and it stays alive, with Croatia and Panama still lurking after their own meeting later on Tuesday. England will fancy this, and rightly so given the gulf in attacking quality, but a Ghana side organised by Queiroz and playing for their tournament is exactly the kind of test that flatters favourites into complacency.
Tuchel will want it done early and done cleanly. If England find their range like they did against Croatia, the night could be a long one for Ghana. If they switch off again, Queiroz has the perfect side to make them pay.
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