World Cup 2026 Group L: England · Croatia · Ghana · Panama

Group L closes the group stage with one of the tournament's most charged rematches: England vs Croatia, nine years after Croatia ended England's 2018 World Cup semifinal run. The Three Lions arrive as Euro 2024 finalists with a squad built around Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, Harry Kane, and Phil Foden; Thomas Tuchel's tactical overhaul has given them a structure they lacked under Gareth Southgate's late era. Croatia, meanwhile, remain defined by Luka Modrić, who at 41 will captain his fourth World Cup.

Ghana return to a World Cup after their 2022 missed penalty against Uruguay cost them the Round of 16. They arrive with an attacking profile led by Inaki Williams and Mohammed Kudus, and a set-piece game that has been sharpened in 2025 AFCON. Panama complete the draw. Los Canaleros made their World Cup debut in 2018 and qualified directly from CONCACAF this cycle with a defensive solidity that should frustrate England and Croatia alike.

The England-Croatia rematch is the marquee fixture. The Round of 16 tie in 1998 and the 2018 semifinal are etched into English football history; a third chapter of this rivalry at a World Cup, in a group where both need points early, is the kind of storyline the expanded tournament was built to produce.