Croatia beat Ghana 2-1 to claim second spot in Group L behind England to secure their passage to the last 32 of the FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Petar Sucic opened the scoring in the first half before a resurgent Ghana dominated the second period, eventually levelling courtesy of Derrick Luckassen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the 2018 runners-up showed their grit to dig out a late winner from the head of Nikola Vlasic as they set up a knockout clash with the second-placed side from Group K in Toronto on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a while, Croatia had been going through as group winners until Jude Bellingham gave England the lead in the second half against Panama in the pool’s other match on Saturday \u2013 Thomas Tuchel’s side then emerging 2-0 victors to ensure top spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ghana were already assured of progressing to the last 32 before the match in Philadelphia kicked off thanks to their defeat of Panama and stalemate against England in their opening two encounters. It will be their third appearance in the knockout stages of a FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 17th-minute Croatian counter-attack resulted in the first real sighter of goal for either side as Vlasic picked the ball up in space outside the box and skidded a low effort off the outside of the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sucic then got the breakthrough for Croatia just after the half-hour when he took on a speculative effort from 30 yards, which zipped low through the legs of centre-half Luckassen and past a partly-unsighted Benjamin Asare in the Ghana goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was just the Inter Milan midfielder’s second international strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The goal coaxed Ghana out of their shells somewhat and Antoine Semenyo burst into the opposition box but pulled his 40th-minute shot across goal and narrowly wide of the far post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ghana boss Carlos Queiroz made a couple of changes at half-time and winger Abdul Fatawu, on in place of the more defensive-minded Elisha Owusu, showed immediate attacking intent as he whipped a shot over the crossbar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Black Stars started bringing the game to Croatia and Manchester City forward Semenyo flung himself at a Fatawu cross on 50 minutes but was just short of making contact with the ball at the near post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ghanaian pressure finally told on 73 minutes as Luckassen’s cute left-footed finish from a set-piece was eventually validated after a lengthy four-minute wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The defender’s first international goal made it four strikes for his family at the tournament as he followed in the footsteps of his brother Brian Brobbey, who has netted three times for Netherlands in the group stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The momentum swung again instantly, however, as Croatia raced up the field with only a superb Asare save denying Mario Pasalic in the 82nd minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the resulting corner Croatia surged back ahead as Vlasic was left in too much space and Luka Modric planted the ball on his head for him to send his side through in second place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane scored second-half goals as England got the job done against Panama at the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Saturday, a 2-0 victory at the MetLife Stadium taking Thomas Tuchel’s team into the last 32 as Group L winners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Real Madrid star Bellingham got on the end of a Bukayo Saka corner to break the deadlock just after the hour mark on a soggy day in New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was largely uninspiring stuff up to that point, but the opening goal had been coming and Bellingham then crossed for Kane to head in the second midway through the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was Kane’s third goal of the tournament after he netted a brace in the opening 4-2 win over Croatia, and the England captain has now moved clear of Gary Lineker as his country’s all-time leading FIFA World Cup scorer with 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuchel made five changes to his line-up following the Ghana encounter, notably choosing to rest Declan Rice from the midfield. Marcus Rashford and Saka got their first starts of the FIFA World Cup on the wings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rashford forced a good save from Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera inside the opening 10 minutes, and later headed over an Elliot Anderson cross before curling a free-kick just past in first-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Panama did also threaten once in the opening period, when Jordan Pickford had to get down to stop a Jose Luis Rodriguez shot at his near post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
England were pedestrian before the break, but the match started to open up for them following the restart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jose Cordoba nearly forced an own goal when his clearance came off teammate Andres Andrade and went narrowly over, and Mosquera then denied Kane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A goal was beginning to feel inevitable and it arrived on 62 minutes as Bellingham held off Jorge Gutierrez at Saka’s corner to turn the ball in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was his second goal of the competition, and he then turned provider for Kane to make sure of the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jose Fajardo then thought he had a late consolation for Panama, but his effort was disallowed for offside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has probably been England’s least remarkable group-stage showing at a FIFA World Cup since 2014, when they went out in the first round. This time, however, they are safely through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Topping the section is important, as it means they avoid a possible clash with Spain in the last 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead they will head to Atlanta for a tie next Wednesday, July 1 against a third-placed team. Win that, and they will be off to Mexico City in the last 16, possibly to play Mexico, in the Azteca Stadium where they lost to Diego Maradona’s Argentina in 1986.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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