Harry Kane, England captain — Group L at FIFA World Cup 2026 — Harry Kane · England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

GROUP PREVIEW

GROUP L — FIFA WORLD CUP 2026

FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 · GROUP STAGE · GROUP L

The Teams

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England

UEFA · 2022 QF · Thomas Tuchel’s controversial squad · Key player: Harry Kane

🇭🇷 Croatia

UEFA · 2018 finalists, 2022 bronze · Key player: Luka Modrić (5th & final World Cup)

🇬🇭 Ghana

CAF · 2010 QF · Key player: Mohammed Kudus (West Ham)

🇵🇦 Panama

CONCACAF · 2nd World Cup · Hard-working and defensively resolute

The Fixtures

June 17

England vs Croatia

📍 BMO Field, Toronto

June 17

Ghana vs Panama

📍 AT&T Stadium, Arlington (Dallas)

June 23

England vs Ghana

📍 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough

June 23

Panama vs Croatia

📍 BMO Field, Toronto

June 27

Panama vs England

📍 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford

June 27

Croatia vs Ghana

📍 Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia

Group Analysis

Group L opens with one of the tournament’s most loaded fixtures: England vs Croatia in Toronto on June 17 — a rematch of the 2018 World Cup semi-final that broke English hearts and sent Croatia to the final. Harry Kane, despite Thomas Tuchel’s controversial squad (Cole Palmer and Phil Foden both dropped), remains England’s spearhead and the player who must finally deliver at a World Cup. Jude Bellingham — arguably the world’s most complete young player — drives the team from midfield. England have the talent to go deep in this tournament.

Croatia are, simply, one of football’s greatest overachievers. Third in 2022, runners-up in 2018, third in 1998. Luka Modrić, at 40, plays his fifth and final World Cup with the same elegance, vision, and ball control that won him the Ballon d’Or in 2018. Croatia without Modrić at a World Cup is unimaginable — and Croatia with Modrić is always dangerous. Ivan Perisic and Mateo Kovacić complete a generation of extraordinary talent.

Ghana carry the hopes of West Africa. Mohammed Kudus — West Ham’s most explosive player — brings pace, creativity and goals. Ghana reached the quarter-finals in 2010 and remain a proud World Cup nation.

Panama appear at only their second-ever World Cup. Hard-working and physically tough, they will make every game difficult for the group’s top two sides.

🎯 PREDICTION: WHO ADVANCES?

1st: England — Kane and Bellingham lead them through. 2nd: Croatia — Modrić’s farewell will not end in the group stage. England vs Croatia is one of the tournament’s most historically loaded fixtures.

SOURCES

⚽ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What should you know about: The Teams?

Group L opens with one of the tournament’s most loaded fixtures: England vs Croatia in Toronto on June 17 — a rematch of the 2018 World Cup semi-final that broke English hearts and sent Croatia to the final. Harry Kane...