England were held to a draw by Ghana 0-0 on Tuesday in Foxborough, near Boston, for their second match of the 2026 World Cup and will have to wait for their final group meeting against Panama on Saturday to try to reach the round of 16 of the American World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s men nevertheless gave one last push in the last five minutes, the most thrilling of a rather dull meeting, to crack the wall erected by the Ghanaian defense, but neither Bukayo Saka’s shot, repelled by Benjamin Asare, nor Nico O’Reilly’s header on the bar, nor the unmissable volley sent by Harry Kane over the bar (86th) shook the Black Stars’ nets.
“Even more defensive”
“Normally it was an obvious goal for us, a huge opportunity and yet another one to follow,” lamented coach Thomas Tuchel. “They were even more defensive than in their first match, they defended in a 4-5-1 formation.”
With 4 points each and before Panama – Croatia later in the evening, neither England nor Ghana are yet qualified for the knockout stage. But it is the Three Lions who can blame themselves the most. During a first period where they monopolized the ball almost 60% of the time, the English did not manage to score a single one of their six shots.
Only a free kick from Declan Rice a quarter of an hour into the match, 25 meters away, caused a slight shudder in the well-stocked stands, before the ball flew away from the Ghanaian goal.
Thomas Partey booed
The first period of this Group L shock was finally marked by the bronca against Thomas Partey, the Ghanaian midfielder, prosecuted for rape in the United Kingdom, booed by the English supporters, supported by his own for his return to the field after having been banned from staying in Canada during the first meeting of the Black Stars against Panama.
The British public, straddling the spirit of football, once again rebelled against the cool break in the middle of the first period, imposed even though it was raining in Boston, the temperature was perfectly mild and the game had already been interrupted for a long time after a head-to-head clash between Jordan Ayew and Reece James, requiring the application of a bandage to the former while the latter slowly regained his senses.
A stop
The second period was very similar to the first: repeated assaults from the English, fruitless counter-attacks from the Ghanaians and a much-decried cool break. The Three Lions still managed to score a shot, the first of the match on the hour mark thanks to Anthony Gordon, with his right foot, on the edge of the area, but it was easily captured by Benjamin Asare in front of his line (0-0, 57th).
Ten minutes later, Kane, who became England’s third most capped player on Tuesday with his 116 caps behind Peter Shilton (125) and Wayne Rooney (120), missed an opportunity to open the scoring and thus fell behind Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, launched in a wild race to become the top scorer of this World Cup.
A stop without consequences for him and his partners. But a halt all the same.
