ALEX CROOK WORLD CUP PREVIEW: England v Ghana

England have the chance to seal their place in the Knockout stages with a game to spare when they take on Ghana in Boston on Tuesday, writes ALEX CROOK.

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The Three Lions got their quest for a first World Cup triumph since 1966 off to the perfect start by beating Croatia 4-2 in their opening group game.

Thomas Tuchel’s men were particularly impressive in the second half when they ran riot against a Croatia side clearly coming to the end of their cycle.

Beating Ghana would make it three wins on the bounce for England, who are also seeking to score at least three goals in three successive games for the first time since the German was appointed as manager.

Ghana have not scored more than one goal in a match since October and laboured to a 1-0 victory in their Group L opener against minnows Panama.

Even in that clash, it needed a stoppage time strike to ensure Carlos Queiroz’s men picked up a crucial three points and they were content to concede the lions’ share of possession.

Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo apart, I don’t see too much in the Black Stars line-up to worry England, and Ghana did not even qualify for the most recent African Cup of Nations, which smacks of a lack of quality.

The only minor criticism of England against Croatia was that they were far from watertight defensively and gave away two cheap goals in the first half.

Tuchel has surely been sharpening up his back line in training and it will be interesting to see if Tuchel restores Marc Guehi to the starting 11.

Guehi would have been disappointed to miss out on selection given his strong showing in a Three Lions jersey and neither John Stones nor Ezri Konsa were faultless.

The other big call for Tuchel would be whether to keep faith with Anthony Gordon or bring in Marcus Rashford after his goal-scoring cameo off the bench.

Either way I think England will win and win without conceding so my main play is an England victory and both teams to score, no, which is priced at 3/4 with starsports.bet.

England captain Harry Kane’s quest for a second World Cup Golden Boot got off to a solid start when he scored twice.

Kane also attempted seven shots and can expect to be in the thick of the action again so 13/5 with starsports.bet to score the first goal looks a decent price.

The dynamic between Kane and Bellingham was particularly impressive on opening day so I am going to back both to either score/assist, England to win, both teams to score, no, and Ghana to have most booking points which returns 7.5/1 as a build-a-bet.

Check out the latest episode of THE INSIDE CHANNEL – a new football podcast with Alex Crook and Sam Matterface running throughout the 2026 World Cup!

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📊 BUILD-A-BET: Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham to score/assist, England to win, both teams to score, no, and Ghana to have most booking points 1pt at 7.5/1 with starsports.bet

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(JUNE 2026): ALEX’S PROFIT/LOSS: -7.62 points

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