It’s quite clear to me that this team is built to maximise the quality of Harry Kane. This is a smart approach by Thomas Tuchel. Kane is England’s only player who is consistently operating at a world class level, and Tuchel has built a squad, particularly an attack, around his strengths.

Kane scored twice from seven shots in England’s opener, seeing three of those efforts find the target. One of those efforts was from the penalty spot, and a few more came from set pieces - including Kane’s second goal, which was a nice header from Declan Rice’s corner, one of many deliveries that looked very dangerous from the Arsenal man.

Kane scored eight goals across eight starts for England during qualifying. He managed 16 shots on target across those games (2.11 per 90) and will definitely be a real threat to this Ghana side, who lack defensive quality. 

Semenyo will be Ghana’s main attacking threat in this game and should feel encouraged by what he saw from England against Croatia at times.

I didn’t like the partnership of John Stones and Ezri Konsa. I think Marc Guehi has to play beside one of those players for England to be at their best defensively, though I did feel secure with Reece James and Nico O’Reilly as the full backs - they looked quite solid.

Semenyo had two shots in Ghana’s opener against Panama and isn’t afraid to take on speculative efforts. He averaged 2.33 shots per 90 across his 37 starts for Bournemouth and Manchester City in the Premier League during the 25/26 campaign, and we need him just to get one effort away here. 

Semenyo registered efforts against Germany and Austria back in March for Ghana and should have enough individual quality to have at least one shot in this encounter. 

I expected Jordan Pickford to be more regularly tested at this World Cup compared to England’s qualifying campaign, where he was a bystander for most of the matches, with England keeping a clean sheet in all eight.

That streak was broken in the first game of the tournament, with England shipping two goals to Croatia, and Pickford called into action on three occasions to keep England in the game. He’s going to have to perform that role often for England if the Three Lions want to go deep. I’m not set on the quality of the backline, so Pickford will likely play a pivotal role. 

Pickford is more than familiar with having to keep his focus through periods of the game where the ball is nowhere near him, but quickly clicks back into gear when he is needed to produce important stops. We’re just looking for the one save from the England keeper here, which could easily come from a speculative Ghana effort. 

I took this for England’s opener against Croatia, and it sailed in with England registering eight corners. It’s clear that Tuchel wants corners and set pieces more widely to be a real weapon of this England side, and it’s easy to see why when you’ve got the quality of someone like Declan Rice managing them.

England averaged 7.50 corners per game during qualifying, winning 5+ corners in 88% of those games. I think they rack up the corner count again here against a side that will be more willing to tighten up central areas and sit deep than Croatia were - suggesting that it could take England a bit of time to break down this Ghana side, and it may not be the free-flowing football we saw in the opener.

Bellingham was fouled once in England’s opener against Croatia, but I expect him to be more routinely targeted by an aggressive Ghanaian midfield who will be well aware of his individual quality.

Bellingham has always been a very strong player when it comes to winning fouls. His large frame and power allow him to shield the ball really effectively, and this shows in his underlying numbers. Bellingham won 10 fouls across just four starts during qualifying (2.54 per 90) and also averaged 2.56 fouls won per 90 across his 22 starts in La Liga during the 25/26 campaign. 

Bellingham will be up against Caleb Yirenkyi and Elisha Owusu, who combine to commit 3.53 fouls per 90 for their club sides and should offer a stubborn block to Bellingham as he looks to build on his performance in the opening game. 

Bellingham found the target twice and scored in England's opener against Croatia.

He's playing quite high up at the moment, usually crashing the box as an extra goalscoring option when Kane drops a bit deeper into pockets and looks to pick out the runs of Madueke, Gordon, Saka and Rashford in behind.

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