The World Cup 2026 may be less than week away. But for those in Group L, there is a little longer to wait. That is because the battles between England, Croatia, Ghana, and Panama do not begin until June 17.
It’s a more intriguing group than most, butwhile they have produced recent solid showings in the Gold Cup, I genuinely don’t expect Panama to have the quality to do any better than in their 2018 campaign (when they were well beaten in all three of their group games).
Indeed, in many ways the fact they have qualified is a fine achievement.
That means the Group L World Cup 2026 highlights are likely to come from the other three.
I personally think Croatia will struggle to go beyond the last 16 this time, although some would argue how can you bet against a nation which finished third at the last World Cup and were runners-up the time before that.
It begs the question, can their old but very fine guard still cut it in what could be sapping temperatures?
So that leaves massive group favourites England and Ghana as supplying my men to watch.
As far as the SBOTOP World Cup 2026 betting odds are concerned, only one man is ahead of England captain Harry Kane in the race to be tournament top scorer.
The Bayern Munich man, who is priced @ 5.95, has scored eight times in 11 appearances at the last two tournaments. On the back of netting 64 times in 56 games for Bayern Munich during another impressive season, he will perhaps have one eye on overtaking Gary Lineker’s national record of 10 World Cup goals.
If he goes well past it, he will give England great chance of going deep into the tournament.
The Three Lions’ biggest-ever win at a World Cup came against Panama in a 6-1 victory in 2018, with Kane bagging a hat-trick – with respect, Lineker never played against a team as weak as Panama in the two World Cups he graced.
If Kane is an obvious standout, then what of Jude Bellingham?
His talent needs little introduction and I will be fascinated to see the dynamic between player and manager.
For all his undoubted success, there is still a question mark against Thomas Tuchel’s man-management for me.
Some of his public utterances, most notably his comments about Bellingham last summer, raised alarm bells with me.
A fine young and occasionally petulant talent he may be, and the German acknowledged him as a special player, but Tuchel was foolish to use the word ‘repulsive’ when describing some of his behaviour. He was even more foolhardy to drag the player’s mother into the debate, moves which suggest to me that Tuchel doesn’t always get the’ public scrutiny’ balance correct.
If there is to be a repeat, and there is no reason why there should be, it could upset the camp.
Of course, such is the international game nowadays, the established footballing nations should always qualify for and reach the latter stages of a major tournament, and I expect England to top the group, even if Kane and Bellingham are below par.
That leaves Ghana, who have received a massive boost with the spring appointment of Carlos Queiroz as manager.
The former Manchester United number two, and briefly Real Madrid number one, is an inspired choice by the Black Stars, who surprisingly parted company with manager Otto Addo just 66 days ago.
Ghana may well prove to be tricky opponents and have a couple of well-known names in their squad, including one of particular star quality.
Phenomenal for Bournemouth and superb for Manchester City, Antoine Semenyo scored 21 goals across the season, including the only goal at Wembley to clinch the FA Cup last month.
He will likely lead their charge along with their top man in qualifying, Jordan Ayew, who had 14 goal involvements (seven goals, seven assists).
Ghana actually came extremely close to becoming the first African country to reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2010. Yet they have now won only one of their last seven matches at the tournament (losing four), beating South Korea in the 2022 group stages.
A leaky defence was part of the problem, but with Queiroz in the dugout, I expect that to improve.
While a lack of elite defenders is a worry and their goalkeeping department lacks international experience, I expect they can progress from the group if one of the most in-form attackers in European club football, and a Premier League player of the year contender, shines Stateside.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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