England's World Cup Aspirations Under Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel inherits a team that has spent the last three tournaments edging closer to the summit without quite planting the flag. This is England’s 17th World Cup, their only triumph still the sepia-tinted glory of 1966, and the brief is brutally simple: turn promise into a second star.

The squad looks balanced in a way previous generations often did not. Declan Rice embodies that blend – a midfielder who can shield, dictate and surge, sometimes in the same move, giving Tuchel the platform to be bolder than Gareth Southgate ever dared. That is the crux of it. England cannot afford to retreat into their shell when the pressure spikes.

Up front, they have the luxury of certainty. Harry Kane arrives as arguably the most complete striker in the game this season, Bayern Munich’s ruthless finisher and England’s all-time leading scorer rolled into one. Eight World Cup goals already sit next to his name. He wants more, and he expects this team to play like contenders, not survivors.

If Tuchel can loosen the handbrake without losing control, England have the tools to stop talking about history and start rewriting it.

Croatia

Zlatko Dalić and Luka Modric go again. It feels almost improbable, yet here they are, Croatia back for a seventh World Cup with the same core figures who dragged them to a final in 2018 and a semi-final four years later.

This time, the climb looks steeper. Some of the old guard are on the far side of their peak, the legs a little heavier, the recovery a little slower. But Croatia’s style remains made for tournament football in difficult conditions: a slow, patient, possession-heavy game that takes the sting out of opponents and the heat out of the contest.

The defensive cornerstone is Joško Gvardiol. At the last World Cup he played like a veteran trapped in a young man’s body, one of the standout defenders in the entire competition. Now at Manchester City and only recently back from a broken shin, he again carries huge responsibility. When Croatia bend but do not break, it is often Gvardiol standing in the way.

Another deep run would top anything they have done before, precisely because it feels so unlikely. Croatia have lived off defying logic. They will try to do it once more.

Ghana

Ghana arrive with talent scattered across the squad but a nagging sense that the whole rarely matches the parts. Five straight friendly defeats underlined the problem before a draw with Wales finally stopped the slide, without fully convincing anyone that the issues are solved.

The federation turned to Carlos Queiroz for order and discipline. His reputation is clear: organise first, entertain second. Expect compact lines, risk-averse football and an emphasis on control over chaos. That approach may be necessary, because Ghana are missing a vital spark. Mohammed Kudus, their most inventive attacker, is injured, stripping the side of a natural source of flair and unpredictability.

Into that void steps Antoine Semenyo. The Manchester City forward is coming off a superb domestic season, 17 Premier League goals and the winner in the FA Cup final marking him out as a big-game player at club level. Internationally, though, the numbers tell a different story: three goals in 34 caps. For Ghana to punch at their true weight, that gap between club and country form has to close.

If Queiroz can coax resilience at the back and release Semenyo’s club instincts in the final third, Ghana will be far more than a collection of promising names.

Panama

Panama know exactly how brutal this stage can be. Their only previous World Cup memory is stained by a 6-1 hammering from England in 2018, Harry Kane scoring twice as the gulf in class was laid bare.

They return with scars but also with progress. Recent results have been respectable enough to lift them to 33rd in the Fifa rankings, a position that hints at a team far more competitive than the casual observer might assume. Then came a 6-2 friendly defeat to Brazil, a sharp reminder of what happens when concentration dips against elite opposition.

Thomas Christiansen’s side are realistic. No one in this camp is talking about miracles. A first World Cup point would be a landmark, a tangible sign that Panama are no longer here just to make up the numbers.

The question is whether they can carry that ambition onto the pitch when the memories of 2018 start to flicker.