Thomas Tuchel believes England were given a wake-up call by Croatia and must focus on improving their defensive structure as they prepare to face Ghana’s Black Stars on Tuesday 23rd June, 2026.
England will qualify for the knockout stages from Group L with a game to spare if they beat Ghana in Boston on Tuesday night, and will top the group if Panama then fail to beat Croatia in the later game, but Tuchel is determined not to take anything for granted.
The head coach has placed a heavy emphasis on aggressive football and has said his side were too quick to fall back during the first half of the 4-2 win over Croatia.
He, however shared his thoughts on Ghana’s team and their style of play going into the big game.
“Ghana play with a lot of physicality, quality and speed. They don’t mind if they don’t have the ball.” said the former Chelsea boss at a pre-match conference.
Meanwhile, England are unlikely to make major changes against Ghana, who beat Panama 1-0 in their opening game. Declan Rice has trained after complaining of discomfort against Croatia and Bukayo Saka, who is nursing an achilles injury, has trained fully in the past two sessions.
Tuchel said he was now pain-free. Saka is still expected to start on the bench. Marcus Rashford is competing with Anthony Gordon for the left wing spot.
