England go into Tuesday’s meeting with Ghana knowing a win all but does the job. Thomas Tuchel’s team sit top of Group L after seeing off Croatia, and three points in Foxborough would carry them into the round of 32 with a game to spare — an early grip on the tournament for a squad packed with Manchester talent.
The opener was eventful rather than serene. England led twice, were reeled back twice, and only pulled clear when Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford struck in the second half of a 4-2 win, Harry Kane’s first-half double having matched Gary Lineker’s England record at World Cups. Ghana, for their part, needed patience against Panama, Caleb Yirenkyi prodding in a 95th-minute winner to settle a 1-0 result and become his country’s second-youngest scorer at a World Cup.
Tuchel has selection puzzles rather than crises. Rashford is managing a tight hamstring, Bukayo Saka an Achilles complaint, and Declan Rice came through the Croatia game with some tightness, though no England player is suspended. Ghana, under Carlos Queiroz, is reported to have a clean bill of health and no bans to work around.
What time does England vs Ghana kick off?
Kick-off in Foxborough is set for 4:00pm Eastern on Tuesday 23 June, which translates to 9:00pm here in the UK. BBC One has the rights to this one, so it is on terrestrial television with no paywall in sight. The full match also streams on BBC iPlayer for anyone watching on a phone, tablet or laptop, and the BBC Sport app will run live updates and post-match highlights.
The stadium
The fixture is staged at Gillette Stadium — rebranded Boston Stadium for the World Cup — out in Foxborough, roughly 22 miles from the centre of Boston. With a capacity near 65,000, the home of the NFL’s Patriots is hard to miss thanks to the 22-storey lighthouse tower at one end, which carries an observation deck with views across the region.
Possible line-ups
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford; James, Stones, Guéhi, O’Reilly; Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Eze, Rashford; Kane.
Ghana (4-3-3): Ati-Zigi; Seidu, Opoku, Mumin, Baba; Partey, Owusu, Semenyo; Williams, Ayew, Sulemana.
Things to do in Manchester
20 July 2026 10:00 + more dates
