After three points each in the opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ghana and England are up against each other in the second group.

The Three Lions defeated Croatia 4-2 in their first game of the competition, with Harry Kane scoring twice while Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford were also on target.

The Black Stars, on the other hand, faced a well-structured Panama side, claiming a 1-0 victory courtesy a late strike from Caleb Yirenkyi.

On Tuesday evening, the two teams will take to the Gillette Stadium knowing that a win for either of them could secure automatic qualification into the knockout phase of the competition.

While England has shown up at the global stage on several occasions, Tuesday's game will be a great opportunity for Ghana to make a statement against an English side that is regarded as one of the favourites for the trophy.

For everything that has been said, this will be the first meeting between the two sides since the friendly back in 2011, where Asamoah Gyan scored a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

The Three Lions arrive as heavy favourites for this game as they rank fourth in the FIFA ranking, while the Black Stars recently rose to 65th following the slim win over Panama.

What has been said

Ahead of the game, Thomas Tuchel and Carlos Queiroz have been the busiest with press duties as they chase early progression.

"The players keep themselves on edge," the England boss said.

"The guys who did not get the minutes from the beginning are pushing, but we try to make sure in training exercises that everyone is pushing. That is why I love the team anyway. At the moment, I cannot see any signs of complacency. We need to do things better. Defensively, we dropped a little too deep from a middle block into a low block and a deep block. We need to improve, especially our structure with the ball, to be ready to defend counterattacks before they become dangerous."

For Queiroz, he said, "We have a great match in front of us. This is what we are looking for all our lives, to be in the right environment and at the right time and to play against the best players in the world."

"We know how England play. They have excellent players, and they have the experience of the Premier League. They have intensity, but we know how we can control this. We know they have three lions, but we have 33 million lions."

As far as records are concerned, the Black Stars have never lost their second round of game at the World Cup since their debut in 2006.

They defeated Czech Republic in 2006, drew with Australia and Germany in 2010 and 2014 respectively, before beating South Korea in the 2022 edition.

For England, they are undefeated against an African side at the global stage, winning five of their eight games while drawing three. In that period as well, they have scored 12 goals while conceding six.

Predicted line-ups

England: Pickford; James, Konsa, Stones, Oreilly; Anderson, Rice; Madueke, Bellingham, Rashford; Kane

Ghana: Asare; Senaya, Adjetey, Opoku, Mensah; Yirenkyi, Partey, Owusu; Issahaku, Jordan, Semenyo