World Cup 2026: Group L Preview

It's been an amazing couple club seasons for Declan Rice at Arsenal, who's now won a Premier League and quickly become one of the best midfielders in the land. Will the quick turnaround after the Champions League Final leave club factions still fresh within the England locker room, or can they band together to give English fans a truly special summer?

England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

FIFA Rank: 4th

Qualified as: UEFA Group K winners

The Skinny

We've arrived at the last group, and as England fans will surely tell you, we've saved the best team for last. We've talked a lot about nations that instantly come to mind when thinking about the World Cup, and as England fans will surely tell you, there's no nation more synonymous with world football than England. Okay, okay, I tease, but in all seriousness, for as much as English fans are mocked for their biennial confidence that the major tournament du jour is theirs to lose, this year that loud confidence is warranted. Just a decade ago, the Three Lions were crashing out of the Euros in the Round of 16 at the hands of tiny Iceland, a cherry on top of a near-decade of futility. That uninspired display was the end bun of a shit sandwich that began with missing the 2008 Euros altogether, and involved just 4 wins out of 15 matches (all in group stages) in the entirety of the '10 World Cup, '12 Euros, '14 World Cup, and '16 Euros. In came new manager Gareth Southgate and a new generation of talent, and the rise back to the top was instant: an exhilarating run to 4th place at the 2018 World Cup, ended only in overtime by eventual runners-up Croatia. A Euro Cup Final at Wembley three years later, ending in defeat only in the dreaded penalty shootout. A dominant run in the Qatar World Cup the following year, foiled once again in overtime by the eventual runners-up, this time France. Two years ago, another run to the Euro Cup Final, falling only to champions Spain on a last-minute winner. Berths in the Nations League semifinals in between those. Yes, England are well and truly back among the world's elite. Still, as close as they have come in every tournament in the last 8 years, they are yet to re-scale the mountaintop. That will be the laser focus for this uber-talented squad, now led by one of the game's great managers, Thomas Tuchel. In a year in which Arsenal can win the Premier League, and the Knicks can (probably) win the NBA Finals, maybe 2026 really is for the obnoxious fans who have been swearing for decades that this is their time.

The Best XI

It's been a long time since I can recall seeing so much angst over a squad selection as I have from England fans toward Tuchel's 26 players. In fairness, even with the poor club seasons they had, seeing an England team without the likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold is very bizarre. Still, it's not as if they're hurting for options; the talent pool is as deep as it's been in ages. Harry Kane is still the main man for England, and he'll be hungry after coming up just short in the Champions League. He may not have Palmer and Foden in support, but he will have Marcus Rashford, rejuvenated at Barcelona, and Premier League champion Bukayo Saka flanking him. Jude Bellingham is the man in midfield, still, and his likely partner for this tournament is Morgan Rogers, fresh off a breakout season with Europa League winners Aston Villa. Declan Rice has started in the defensive midfield for England ever since the 2020 Euros, and that certainly won't change now that he's got a legitimate shout for being one of the best holding midfields in the planet. In defense, Alexander-Arnold's exclusion is Chelsea man Reece James's gain, and otherwise it's a Manchester City party: veteran John Stones and new star Marc Guehi will partner for country as they do for club, and young star Nico O'Reilly is a breakout talent.

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Croatia 🇭🇷

FIFA Rank: 11th

Qualified as: UEFA Group L winners

The Skinny

There may not be a more impressively performing nation at the World Cup in the last 30 yeas than Croatia. The nation is the size of West Virginia, with the population of Los Angeles, and only earned its independence from the Soviet Union-come-Yugoslavia some 30 years ago. Yet, in its very first major tournament as its own country and FIFA member, it nearly went all the way in France 1998, only falling to the hosts and eventual champions in the semifinals and earning 3rd place. Since then, they've qualified for all but 1 of the next 8 Cups, and reached the Final in 2018 and semifinals again 4 years ago. Yes, for those of you keeping score at home, that means in HALF of the World Cups th elittle country has played in as an independent nation, they have finished in the Top 3. Vatreni ("The Blazers") were a trendy dark horse pick coming into 2018, but I don't think even the biggest Croatian loyalist would have expected them to come within 1 win of lifting the Jules Rimet trophy; and they certainly were not as widely discussed as a serious contender in Qatar 2022, yet they once again reached the semifinals and finished in the Top 3, once again being knocked out only by the eventual champion. This is a squad on the cusp of waving farewell to the last of an incredible generation-- this is legendary midfielder Luka Modrić and Ivan Perisić's last tournament, surely --and who knows if the next wave of Croatian talent can match the lofty heights their predecessors set. They're saddled with a tough draw this time around, too. But would you really bet against Croatia in the World Cup at this point?

The Best XI

As referenced, Modrić and Perisić, as well as Andrej Kramarić, are just about the last holdovers from that 2010s generation that culminated in that famous 2018 team. Yet, the three of them, at the combined average age of 37 years are still going strong at a high level; at Milan, at PSV, and at Hoffenheim, respectively. Manchester City's Kovačić and Atalanta's Pašalić provide some additional veteran experience in midfield, and Dominik Livaković is back in goal after a breakout performance at the 2022 Cup. If you're looking for the younger talent in the squad, you'll find it predominantly in the defense: Man City's Josko Gvardiol is the star, of course, but his fullback partner Josip Stanišić (Bayern Munich) is no slouch, either. The likely CB pairing of Ajax's Josip Šutalo and Real Sociedad's Ćaleta-Car are quality, as well.

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Ghana 🇬🇭

FIFA Rank: 73rd

Qualified as: CAF Group I winners

The Skinny

Ghana's back in the World Cup for the second straight time, and for the fifth time in the 21st century; since making their debut in 2006, the Black Stars have qualified for every ensuing tournament save for Russia 2018. For a small nation, Ghana have a rich footballing history; they exploded onto the scene in that '06 debut appearance, beating Czech Republic and the United States to advance from the Group of Death, before ultimately falling to Brazil in the Round of 16. They followed that up by being the sole African team to progress to the knockout stages in the first World Cup in Africa four years later, again stunning the U.S. to book a place in the quarterfinals, where only a cruel twist of fate kept them from becoming the first African side to reach a semifinal. They have exited the group stage at each of their last two appearances, but the only World Cup in which they failed to win at least one match was 2014, wherein they scored a thrilling 2-2 draw with eventual champions Germany. They've long been a force in their own continent, too, owning 4 African Cup of Nations titles in their history. That said, the last decade or so has seen a steep fall-off from their high highs; they haven't even reached the knockout stages of the African Cup since 2017, and their qualification in 2022 almost came as a surprise. So stark have their results been in the 2020s, they enter this tournament as the 4th-lowest ranked team of the 48, slotting behind Qatar, Jordan, Cape Verde, and Uzbekistan, to name a few. This is a sneaky talented squad, to be clear, with some can't-miss players across the pitch, and their cruise through qualifying reminded everyone just how good they could be. It's also a team that hasn't landed a signature win in over a decade, and has struggled to find any consistent form of late; their last victory was all the way back in October, over Comoros on the final day of World Cup qualification. Which version of Ghana will we get this tournament? The one that gets some unexpected points in group play, and steals a Round of 32 upset to get back to the Round of 16? Or the one that never can find an identity and crashes out of the group stage in last place?

The Best XI

Ghana's recent futility becomes somewhat confusing when you see some of the players they have at their disposal. Man City's Antoine Semenyo commands the headlines, of course, as one of the best players in the Premier League this season, but his fellow winger Iñaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao) is just as dangerous and capable. They'll likely bolster Brandon Thomas-Asante of newly promoted Coventry City, the lone pure striker named in the squad. Sexual assaulter Thomas Partey is unfortunately in the team and will be in the midfield, and he'll be patrolling in front of a solid CB pairing in Nice's Kojo Oppong and Rayo Vallecano's Abdul Mumin.

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Panama 🇵🇦

FIFA Rank: 34th

Qualified as: CONCACAF Group A winner

The Skinny

Group L, interestingly enough, is the only group at this tournament in which all 4 teams have played in at least one of the last two World Cups. And no, that does not mean Panama is "football heritage" (their 2018 qualification was their first-ever World Cup appearance) by any means, but it does mean Los Canaleros aren't as big a stranger to the biggest stages as you might expect from them. Throughout all of modern history, the CONCACAF intrigue has boiled down to who can be the continent's '3rd team,' alongside Mexico and the United States. Given Canada's rapid rise to the top tier, the debate is now which of the Central American or Caribbean countries are CONCACAF's '4th team,' alongside the North American trio. Well, for roughly the last 15 years or so, Panama has had a legitimate claim on that title. A nation known considerably more for its baseball, they first made headlines continentally by reaching the semifinals of the 2011 Gold Cup, then the Final two years later, then a 3rd place finish again two years after that, taking out Mexico and the United States in the latter two respectively. They were the most clear beneficiaries of the USA's stunning failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, popping up to claim the last CONCACAF spot in their stead, and even though they lost all 3 matches in Russia, it reflected the culmination of a clear arc of progress in the nation. Lest you think North America doesn't present enough competition for them, in each of the two super-sized Copa Americas, in 2016 and 2024, they were shock qualifiers for the quarterfinal stage, even stunning hosts U.S. two years ago. That wasn't the last time they shocked the U.S. in recent memory: they followed up by handing the Yanks their first-ever Nations League elimination last year in Mauricio Pochettino's first tournament at the helm, en route to a runners-up medal there. Panama are the clear underdogs of a difficult group-- one of the trickier at this tournament --but they're used to being the clear underdog, and importantly, they know this terrain far better than any of their groupmates.

The Best XI

An experienced Panama squad has South American-based veterans at the two poles of the pitch, with 35-year old Nacional (Uruguay) keeper Luis Mejía between the sticks and Universidad Católica's (Ecuador) José Fajardo at the 9. The majority of this squad is based in North America, though, in either the MLS or Liga MX. This includes captain Aníbal Godoy (San Diego), his midfield and MLS partner Carlos Harvey of Minnesota United, and veteran winger Yoel Bárcenas (Tijuana). There is some European talent in this team, and weirdly enough, it's all concentrated in the back line. Beşiktaş's Amir Murillo and LASK's Andrés Andrade comprise the left side, and Slovan Bratislava veteran César Blackman will play outside Norwich City man José Córdoba.

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Group Schedule (all times ET)

6/17, 4 PM: England v Croatia (Houston)

6/17, 7 PM: Ghana v Panama (Toronto)

6/23, 4 PM: England v Ghana (Boston)

6/23, 7 PM: Panama v Croatia (Toronto)

6/27, 5 PM: Panama v England (New York City) / Croatia v Ghana (Philadelphia)

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Group Prediction

I'm not fully on board with the level of England hype, and I do think the climate could trouble them some, but I don't really see them not winning this group. From there, though, the picture gets murkier, in large part because I really don't know what to do with Ghana. I could see them being too fast for an aging Croatia squad, and having too much quality for Panama. I also could see them getting rattled by Panama's toughness and Croatia's experience. In the end, I think the final standings will look about as expected, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some strange results: Panama drawing Croatia. Ghana drawing England. England defeating Croatia (I know that doesn't sound strange, but they just don't do that very often).