Finally, an England Worth Taking Seriously
Group L closes out the alphabet with a genuinely mouth-watering heavyweight collision: Thomas Tuchel's England, finally — for once — looking like the side their talent has always promised, against a Croatia team that has reached two of the last three World Cup finals on pure tournament nous and Luka Modrić's seemingly eternal engine. Behind them sit a Ghana side stripped of its most dynamic creative talent before a ball has been kicked, and a Panama team making just their second-ever World Cup appearance — older, wiser, and considerably more dangerous than the side that went home pointless from Russia 2018.
The headline injury story belongs to Ghana: Mohammed Kudus, arguably their most explosive attacking talent, has been ruled out of the tournament entirely after a quadriceps injury suffered against Sunderland triggered a rehabilitation setback serious enough to require surgery. It's a brutal blow for Carlos Queiroz's side, who now lean almost entirely on Antoine Semenyo to manufacture moments of magic. Croatia, meanwhile, breathed a huge sigh of relief — Luka Modrić, at 40 and about to become just the third men's player ever to appear in six World Cups (alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi), recovered from a broken cheekbone in time to lead his side out in Toronto.
The Galáctico's Verdict: England top the group — Tuchel has built a side that finally pairs elite individual talent (Bellingham, Kane, Rice, Saka) with genuine tactical structure, and the Galáctico has not been able to say that about an England squad in living memory. Croatia secure second on the back of tournament pedigree that simply cannot be taught — they know exactly how to navigate a group stage without burning themselves out. Ghana edge out Panama for third by the finest of margins, with Semenyo doing the work of three players. Panama go home — but with their heads held considerably higher than 2018, and a result or two that will be remembered fondly back home for years.
The match that defines the group is the Matchday 1 opener — England vs Croatia in Toronto. Get a result here, and the rest of the group becomes a formality. Lose, and suddenly Group L turns into the most stressful three matches of either side's summer.
FULL-BACK INJURY WATCH — BUT TUCHEL TRUSTS THE RECOVERIES: Tuchel named his 26-man squad with several knocks still being managed: Tino Livramento has battled a thigh issue that ended his season early, Reece James is only just back from a hamstring problem, and Djed Spence was included despite breaking his jaw days before the announcement. None of it stopped Tuchel pulling the trigger on selection — a sign of just how much he trusts his medical staff to have these full-backs sharp by kickoff in Toronto.
This is, remarkably, an England squad that the Galáctico can say nice things about without irony. Thomas Tuchel has built a side that finally looks tactically coherent rather than simply assembled from whichever names are most famous — and the proof is in the calls he didn't make. Leaving out Phil Foden and Cole Palmer after underwhelming club seasons sent a clear message: form over reputation, structure over star power. Harry Kane captains England at a third World Cup — equalling Billy Wright's all-time record — and arrives off a 40-goal Bundesliga season that has him playing like a man with one piece of unfinished business left.
Behind him, Jude Bellingham gives England a midfield runner with genuine Champions League pedigree and the temperament for the biggest occasions, Declan Rice anchors everything with Premier League-tested authority, and Bukayo Saka remains the kind of one-on-one terror that simply cannot be coached against. For the first time in a long time, this looks less like a "golden generation" gimmick and more like an actual football team.
England arrive with several defenders managed back from injury rather than fully match-sharp — Livramento, James, and Spence all carry question marks into the tournament. If even one of those recoveries goes sideways under World Cup intensity, Tuchel's carefully balanced structure could be tested far sooner than he'd like. The talent has never been the issue for England. It has always been whether the supporting cast holds up when it matters.
MODRIĆ RECOVERS FROM BROKEN CHEEKBONE TO MAKE HISTORY: Luka Modrić fractured his cheekbone in late April, ending his AC Milan season early — but the 40-year-old captain has trained in a protective mask, recovered fully, and will lead Croatia out as just the third men's player ever (alongside Ronaldo and Messi) to appear at six World Cups. "Maybe this break helped him," said Dalić. Vintage Modrić, turning adversity into another chapter of an impossible career.
If there is one team in this entire tournament that simply does not panic, it is Croatia. Zlatko Dalić's side have reached the World Cup final in 2018 and the semifinal in 2022 — a level of recent tournament pedigree matched by almost no one else in the field, and certainly no one else in this group. At the heart of it all remains Luka Modrić, who at 40 continues to defy every conventional law of footballing aging, controlling matches with the same elegance and football IQ that won him the Ballon d'Or back in 2018.
The good news compounds further with Joško Gvardiol's return from a broken shin — giving Dalić one of the most physically dominant and ball-playing centre-backs in world football back at full fitness. Croatia's blueprint has never changed: control the tempo, never panic, trust the experience in the middle of the park, and grind opponents down across ninety unglamorous but supremely effective minutes. It has taken them to two finals. There is no reason to think it can't take them deep again.
Modrić is 40. Croatia's entire identity is built around a midfield engine that has, by definition, an expiry date no amount of football intelligence can postpone forever. A facial injury just weeks before the tournament is the kind of thing that lingers — physically and psychologically — deep into a long campaign. If Croatia's captain has even one off night against England in the opener, the rest of this group becomes considerably more stressful than Dalić would like.
MOHAMMED KUDUS RULED OUT — GHANA LOSE THEIR BIGGEST ATTACKING THREAT: A quadriceps injury suffered against Sunderland was supposed to keep Kudus out for "several months" — enough time, in theory, to be ready for the World Cup. Instead, a serious setback during rehabilitation now threatens to require surgery, and Ghana have been forced to name their squad without him. It's a devastating loss of creativity and unpredictability for Carlos Queiroz's side, just as the tournament arrives.
Losing Mohammed Kudus is the kind of blow that fundamentally reshapes a team's entire ceiling. He was Ghana's most direct, unpredictable, and explosive attacking weapon — the player most likely to manufacture a goal from absolutely nothing. In his place, Carlos Queiroz now leans almost entirely on Antoine Semenyo, who arrives in tremendous form after a standout Premier League season for Manchester City and is, by some distance, the most talented attacking player left in this Ghana squad.
Thomas Partey continues to provide Ghana with genuine Premier League-level control and physicality in central midfield, giving the side a foundation that won't simply fold against bigger opposition. But the gap between "Ghana with Kudus" and "Ghana without Kudus" is enormous — and the Galáctico suspects Queiroz knows it better than anyone, even if he won't say so publicly.
You cannot simply replace a player like Mohammed Kudus — you can only redistribute his absence across a squad that suddenly looks considerably less dangerous. Ghana now go into a brutal group asking one player, Antoine Semenyo, to do the work that two were supposed to share. The Galáctico admires the fight in this Black Stars squad, but admiration alone doesn't create chances out of thin air.
Eight years on from a winless, pointless debut at Russia 2018, Panama return to the World Cup as a genuinely different proposition. Thomas Christiansen's side reached the final of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2025 Nations League — tangible proof that this is no longer a team simply happy to have qualified. At the heart of it all is captain Aníbal Godoy, the most-capped player in Panamanian history with 159 appearances, whose experience and leadership give this squad a steel that simply didn't exist in 2018.
Adalberto Carrasquilla remains the creative engine pulling the strings in midfield — carrying a slight injury concern into the tournament but expected to feature — while Cecilio Waterman provides a focal point up front and youngster Carlos Harvey has emerged as a genuine breakout talent under Christiansen's setup. This is, in every meaningful sense, a more competitive, more experienced, and more dangerous Panama side than the one that went home from Russia without a single point to its name.
The draw is undeniably brutal — England, Croatia, and a talented if Kudus-less Ghana side represents about as difficult a return to the World Cup stage as is possible. But the Galáctico expects Panama to be competitive in all three matches, and there is a real possibility — not a guarantee, but a real possibility — that Christiansen's side leaves this tournament with their first-ever World Cup point. That, on its own, would be a story worth celebrating.
Improvement since 2018 is real — but England, Croatia, and Ghana represent a significant step up from anything Panama have faced in recent CONCACAF cycles. Carrasquilla's injury concern looms over their best chance of creating something from nothing, and against three sides with considerably more individual quality, moments of brilliance will need to arrive far more often than recent history suggests they will.
Group L Schedule
| Date | Match | Venue | BST |
|---|---|---|---|
Jun 17 |
🏴 England vs Croatia 🇭🇷 GROUP OPENER |
Toronto Stadium |
20:00 |
Jun 17 |
🇬🇭 Ghana vs Panama 🇵🇦 |
Toronto Stadium |
00:00 |
Jun 23 |
🏴 England vs Ghana 🇬🇭 |
Boston Stadium |
20:00 |
Jun 23 |
🇵🇦 Panama vs Croatia 🇭🇷 |
Toronto Stadium |
00:00 |
Jun 27 |
🇵🇦 Panama vs England 🏴 |
New York / New Jersey Stadium |
22:00 |
Jun 27 |
🇭🇷 Croatia vs Ghana 🇬🇭 GROUP L DECIDER |
New York / New Jersey Stadium |
22:00 |
Get this one right, and the rest of the group becomes a formality for either side. Get it wrong, and suddenly three matches feel like ten. Bellingham against Modrić is the generational changing-of-the-guard subplot the neutral wants — England's brightest young midfielder against the man whose Ballon d'Or he is most often compared to chasing. The Galáctico expects a tight, tense, properly tournament-flavoured opener that says everything about how seriously both sides are taking this.
Predicted Final Standings
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | GD | Pts | xPTS | Qual% | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🏴 England | 2 | 1 | 0 | +5 | 7 | 7 | 88% | ✅ Through |
| 2 | 🇭🇷 Croatia | 2 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 6 | 5 | 65% | ✅ Through |
| 3 | 🇬🇭 Ghana | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 3 | 3 | 32% | ⚠️ Semenyo Watch |
| 4 | 🇵🇦 Panama | 0 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 1 | 1 | 9% | ❌ Going Home — Improved |
This Is the Most Likeable England Squad of the Galáctico's Lifetime — and That Sentence Has Never Once Been True Before. Tuchel left out Foden and Palmer. He picked players in form over players with reputations. He built a team that plays like a team. Whatever happens in this tournament, English football should bottle whatever Tuchel is doing and never let it go.
Modrić Will Be the Best Player on the Pitch in at Least One of These Three Matches — at Age 40, With a Recently Broken Face. It shouldn't be possible. It has never made any sense. And yet here we are, watching a 40-year-old in a sixth World Cup somehow still dictating tempo against players half his age. The Galáctico has stopped trying to explain Luka Modrić and started simply enjoying him.
Ghana's Tournament Lives or Dies on Whether Antoine Semenyo Has the Best Three Weeks of His Career. Losing Kudus didn't just remove a player — it removed an entire dimension of unpredictability. Semenyo now has to be magnificent in every single match just for Ghana to be competitive. That is an enormous amount of weight to place on one pair of shoulders — but if anyone can carry it, on current form, it might just be him.
