Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama

[davieG]

Date	Match	Kick-off Time (BST)	Venue
Wednesday 17 June	England vs Croatia	9:00 PM	AT&T Stadium
Thursday 18 June	Ghana vs Panama	12:00 AM	BMO Field
Tuesday 23 June	England vs Ghana	9:00 PM	Boston Stadium
Wednesday 24 June	Panama vs Croatia	2:00 AM	BMO Field
Saturday 27 June	Panama vs England	10:00 PM	MetLife Stadium
Saturday 27 June	Croatia vs Ghana	10:00 PM	Philadelphia Stadium

[MPH]

One of the most difficult things of being a British person in American is that absolutely no one I know, including my American wife is remotely interested in the World Cup. I’ll be watching on my tablet in some coffee shop somewhere with frowns for showing the slightest emotion. Still plenty of oooooooh! s and goooowooon! s, though . Can’t wait!

[ramboacdc]

It would be up there with the failed qualifications of Taylor and Maclaren or that loss to Iceland if we managed to bottom out in this group. 

Think there is only 1 place the 3rd place team for group L can go also if they are one of the top 6 3rd placers.   Just waiting for Ayew to somehow now become a footballer who knows how to jog, maybe even sprint, and put footballs in goals. 

[StanSP]

 

 

 

[Leicesterpool]

53 minutes ago, StanSP said:

 

 

 

Hope all concenered get the treatment they need. In terms of world cup, does raise the question of safety, we talked about political rights of qatar etc whilst in the current world cup you have host nation which allows their residents to access to buy guns... 

[CPepFox]

This is a tough grouping... I expect Panama to finish last, but Ghana and Croatia both could upend England... 

[Sly]

28 minutes ago, CPepFox said:

This is a tough grouping... I expect Panama to finish last, but Ghana and Croatia both could upend England... 

Neither are the teams they once were in reality.

 

Ghana haven’t won an international match since October last year, and haven’t won in the last 6 matches. They didn’t even qualify for the 2025 AFCON. 

 

Croatia are a funny one, they aren’t the team they were, however still have the tools and experience to be an issue. This game is the toughest in the group for England. 

 

 

[KFS]

8 hours ago, CPepFox said:

This is a tough grouping... I expect Panama to finish last, but Ghana and Croatia both could upend England... 

no chance, although finishing second may be best here

[Leicesterpool]

15 hours ago, Sly said:

Neither are the teams they once were in reality.

 

Ghana haven’t won an international match since October last year, and haven’t won in the last 6 matches. They didn’t even qualify for the 2025 AFCON. 

 

Croatia are a funny one, they aren’t the team they were, however still have the tools and experience to be an issue. This game is the toughest in the group for England. 

 

 

Croatia tend to turn up in tournaments, i swear each tournament they pick the same players who seem to play for ever. Raises the question when these players retire the question is the next generation of players good enough.

[Md9]

20 hours ago, StanSP said:

 

 

 

Can’t imagine it will be the last incident there sadly 

[Corky]

Doesn't the club have a few England regulars? The booing of Ayew will be fantastic.

[Jon the Hat]

4am, 4am and 5am kick offs for me.  Can I be arsed?  Possibly not. 

[Jon the Hat]

Fully expect a draw against Croatia.  Win the others, come second.

[Lionator]

we could play at 1/10 standard and still beat Ghana man, no serious country has Ayew up front. Panama are even worse but they’re only a small country. Croatia will be tough and we’ll need to win to make sure we top the group and not meet France and Spain in the earlier knockouts. 

[Samilktray]

9 points for England here

[RowlattsFox]

Fully expecting England to make it as dull and difficult as possible. Draws with Croatia and Ghana and a scabby 2-0 over Panama.....

[Fox92]

We should win this group surely. I take it Croatia are not as strong as what they were? 

[AKCJ]

25 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

We should win this group surely. I take it Croatia are not as strong as what they were? 

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Dominik Kotarski (Copenhagen), Ivor Pandur (Hull City).

Defenders: Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City), Duje Caleta-Car (Real Sociedad), Josip Sutalo (Ajax Amsterdam), Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich), Marin Pongracic (Fiorentina), Martin Erlic (Midtjylland), Luka Vuskovic (Hamburg).

Midfielders: Luka Modric (AC Milan), Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Luka Sucic (Real Sociedad), Martin Baturina (Como), Kristijan Jakic (Augsburg), Petar Sucic (Inter Milan), Nikola Moro (Bologna), Toni Fruk (Rijeka).

Forwards: Ivan Perisic (PSV Eindhoven), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marco Pasalic (Orlando City), Petar Musa (Dallas), Igor Matanovic (Freiburg).

 

Loads of experience in there with some really decent young players like Vuskovic and Sucic. Some of their more experienced players aren't crazy old either (aside from Perisic and Modric).

 

England should have far too much for them but it's a decently tricky starting game. England have to win or they'll play someone like Spain or France far too early.

[st albans fox]

Saka not fit enough to train every day

surely we’ve learned over the past two decades not to take players who aren’t able to be 100% fit

 

palmer or Bowen could fill in on that side if called up in saka’s place but I doubt tuchel would do that.  Saka hasn’t played well since he got injured some months ago. He isn’t going to regain form over the next month. 
 

 

[whoareyaaa]

28 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Saka not fit enough to train every day

surely we’ve learned over the past two decades not to take players who aren’t able to be 100% fit

 

palmer or Bowen could fill in on that side if called up in saka’s place but I doubt tuchel would do that.  Saka hasn’t played well since he got injured some months ago. He isn’t going to regain form over the next month. 
 

 

Just seen that as well, Palmer should have took his place if he is not fit.

 

 

[Fox92]

51 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Saka not fit enough to train every day

surely we’ve learned over the past two decades not to take players who aren’t able to be 100% fit

 

palmer or Bowen could fill in on that side if called up in saka’s place but I doubt tuchel would do that.  Saka hasn’t played well since he got injured some months ago. He isn’t going to regain form over the next month. 
 

 

Not sure why we didn't take at least one of Palmer or Bowen. I like Saka, always thought he's our best winger, but he needs to be 100%.

[spacemunky]

I know Palmer didn't have the best season(as with is team), but wasn't he the only guy who scored in the final against Spain last time out? 

 

I can at least understand with Foden, because he does squat when he plays for England, but not taking Palmer was certainly a choice.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 14:46 by spacemunky

[ClaphamFox]

32 minutes ago, spacemunky said:

I know Palmer didn't have the best season(as with is team), but wasn't he the only guy who scored in the final against Spain last time out? 

 

I can at least understand with Foden, because he does squat when he plays for England, but not taking Palmer was certainly a choice.

 

 

Palmer is a potential game-changer. In the Euros he came on against the Netherlands and immediately set-up Watkins for the winner. Plus, he was the player of the tournament last summer when Chelsea won the Club World Cup, playing in the same stadiums in the same conditions that England will face this summer. 

 

I can see the logic in most of Tuchel's decisions, but leaving Palmer out seems like a major error to me. And given it turns out Saka isn't even fit it's even more baffling. 

[FoxesWalk]

6 hours ago, AKCJ said:

Goalkeepers: Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb), Dominik Kotarski (Copenhagen), Ivor Pandur (Hull City).

Defenders: Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City), Duje Caleta-Car (Real Sociedad), Josip Sutalo (Ajax Amsterdam), Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich), Marin Pongracic (Fiorentina), Martin Erlic (Midtjylland), Luka Vuskovic (Hamburg).

Midfielders: Luka Modric (AC Milan), Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City), Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Nikola Vlasic (Torino), Luka Sucic (Real Sociedad), Martin Baturina (Como), Kristijan Jakic (Augsburg), Petar Sucic (Inter Milan), Nikola Moro (Bologna), Toni Fruk (Rijeka).

Forwards: Ivan Perisic (PSV Eindhoven), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Ante Budimir (Osasuna), Marco Pasalic (Orlando City), Petar Musa (Dallas), Igor Matanovic (Freiburg).

 

Loads of experience in there with some really decent young players like Vuskovic and Sucic. Some of their more experienced players aren't crazy old either (aside from Perisic and Modric).

 

England should have far too much for them but it's a decently tricky starting game. England have to win or they'll play someone like Spain or France far too early.

We are arguably better off coming second in the group given where it would put us in the knockout draw if we come first. 
 

Round of 16 would be 1am uk time in Estadio Azteca, Mexico City. High altitude (2000+m above sea level), high temperatures, and the most likely team to face in that game is winner of Group A… Mexico, so also a major home advantage as it’s a proper football nation. Very good chance England could lose in that scenario imo. 
 

Imagine staying up till 3am to watch us go out to Mexico, players panting and sweating by the end. 

[FoxesWalk]

2 hours ago, spacemunky said:

I know Palmer didn't have the best season(as with is team), but wasn't he the only guy who scored in the final against Spain last time out? 

 

I can at least understand with Foden, because he does squat when he plays for England, but not taking Palmer was certainly a choice.

 

 

He’s also been injured (and playing through it) most of the year, and was still carrying injury at the end of the season. Tuchel gave palmer multiple auditions in the friendlies before the squad was picked and he was awful (as was Foden).