4 Takeaways From England-Ghana Scoreless Stalemate At World Cup

Ghana has positioned itself to become one of the most surprising teams in the group stage at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup following a 0-0 draw with England on Tuesday at Boston Stadium. 

Two months ago, Ghana’s team was in chaos as the team was extremely poor in the March international window. The federation felt compelled to make a coaching change and went with the highly respected Carlos Queiroz. The Portugal native has now guided Ghana to a win over Panama and a draw with England to be on the verge of advancing to the knockouts. 

Here are my takeaways: 

1. Give Credit To Queiroz For Reshaping Ghana

Queiroz has coached nine national teams and this is his fifth time coaching in a World Cup. He has also managed top clubs, including Real Madrid and Sporting CP. Now 73, Queiroz is well experienced and knows the international side of the game well. When he was hired by Ghana in April, he inherited a team that kept allowing goals in the March international window (including a 5-1 loss to Austria). His priority was to improve the team’s defense extremely quickly. 

In the win over Panama in the opener, Ghana grew into the game and by the end, all the dangerous chances were from the Black Stars. Most importantly, the team kept a clean sheet. 

Against England, Ghana came into the game as the heavy underdog. Queiroz’s game plan involved having his team slow the game down and focus on closing down on the ball when England moved into the final third. That is not easy to pull off effectively, but Ghana found success early with how well its players rotated and covered for each other. It clearly frustrated the English players who struggled in the first half to pick up the pace and find space to operate in the attack. 

England had 78% possession in the first half, but Ghana gave the Lions nothing to show for it.  The first half ended without a shot on goal for either team, which was a success for Ghana. 

In the second half, it was a test of defensive discipline but combined more with the determination to block shots, make tired runs, win aerials, and engage in emergency defending. Late in the half, Ghana came close to finding a winner on a counterattack. 

At the start of the World Cup, Ghana was ranked 73rd in the latest FIFA World Rankings, which was one of the lowest in the tournament. Queiroz was given a near impossible task with Ghana, but he has helped to improve Ghana’s defense immensely in very little time. It is one of the most impressive coaching displays at this tournament. 

2. Tuchel’s Tactics Felt Too Little, Too Late

This was a very different test for England when compared with Croatia in the first game. Croatia came into that game looking to go directly at England and play them as equals. Ghana had no interest in attempting to impose itself on England. Rather, Ghana was content with sitting deep while looking to generate occasional chances on the counterattack or on set pieces. 

England’s head coach Thomas Tuchel had his team looking to play up the middle and find combination to open opportunities for Harry Kane or others in the box. It was somewhat surprising that he did not start wingers Marcus Rashford or Bukayo Saka after both performed well against Croatia. He also elected to start with two holding midfielders in a game where England was going to have plenty of possession deep in the attacking half. 

Throughout the first half, England was slow to adjust despite the opportunities not coming. 

Specifically, England’s first half struggles centered on the team not utilizing its wingers or fullbacks to unlock Ghana’s defense from wide areas where it could attack more in one-on-one situations. 

In the second half, England did not make any initial substitutions but began to attack more from out wide. In the 66th minute, Tuchel made significant adjustments when he replaced the team’s left side of the field when he took out winger Anthony Gordon and fullback Djed Spence and replaced them with Nico O’Reilly and Bukayo Saka.

From there, England started to push forward more effectively. Ghanian goalkeeper Benjamin Asare had to make more saves as the half moved on. In one dramatic moment, the two subs of O’Reilly and Saka combined as O’Reilly sent a shot off the crossbar, and it was then followed by a shocking close-range miss from Kane. 

But the winner never came for England. Tuchel’s responses helped to generate chances, but the questions now arise about whether he waited too late and whether he got his initial gameplan correct.

3. Ghana Buckled Down And Prevailed

While Queiroz deserves a lot of credit, the Ghanian players executed their gameplan brilliantly and with determination. 

Some of the areas where it achieved this result show up in the stats. 

Ghana finished the game making 22 tackles, blocking six shots, and making 39 clearances. Teams who get a result in a game with only that little percentage of possession tend to impress in these areas, but these numbers are very high. Even more impressive is that Ghana keeper Benjamin Asare only needed to make three saves.

Ghana put forth a total team defensive effort. Any English player with the ball close to the box was swarmed, and the passing lanes were cut off. When England managed to have a good opportunity, Ghana players would dive to block shots. 

4. Plenty At Stake In Group Stage Finales

The teams next return to action on Saturday to complete group play. 

England remains in great shape as the Lions will once again be heavily favored in its Group L finale against Panama. A very pro-English crowd awaits the team at New York New Jersey Stadium, but the team clearly needs to play better than it did today because Panama is very likely to attempt to play in the same way. Tuchel will need to adjust and find ways to prevent Kane from being inactive for so long. 

As for Ghana, it now sits in great position with four points and a positive goal differential. Even a narrow loss to Croatia should be enough to send the Black Stars through to the knockouts. But a result against Croatia is not out of the question. Like against England, Ghana will be forced to defend for long stretches, but that does not seem to be a problem for Ghana either. Croatia should be the more concerned team.