Ollie Watkins isn’t dancing around it. England wants to win Group L with a game to spare, and the Aston Villa striker made that clear ahead of Tuesday’s match against Ghana. A victory at the World Cup would lock up a spot in the knockout rounds before they even face Panama on Saturday.
Thomas Tuchel’s squad put the soccer world on notice last week. Croatia pushed them hard early, twice clawing back to tie the game at 2-2 in the first half. But England’s second-half response was something else. Jude Bellingham took over and substitute Marcus Rashford slammed the door in a 4-2 win that turned heads.
That result puts England in a strong spot. Beat Ghana on Tuesday, and they’re through to the last 32. If Panama also loses to Croatia in the other group match that day, England locks up first place and the final group game becomes a formality. Dead rubber or not, Watkins isn’t interested in easing up.
“Every game you play you want to win,” Watkins said. “We’re preparing now for the game at hand doing all we can to win. We want to top the group. We want to win every game and progress through the next round. That’s everyone’s aim at the end of the day, but we’re in a good position so far. We need to keep building on the Croatia performance.”
The Semenyo Problem
Ghana sits 65th in the FIFA world rankings. On paper, they’re England’s weakest opponent in the group. But soccer doesn’t happen on paper.
Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo is the real threat. He’s been a handful for Premier League defenses over the last few seasons, and England’s backline will have to stay sharp. But Watkins says Tuchel isn’t obsessing over the opposition’s best player. The manager has a different approach.
“To be fair, the thing I like about this manager is obviously he highlights their threats — we know Semenyo is a great player as you’ve seen in the last few seasons — but he focuses a lot on ourselves,” Watkins explained. “What we try to do with the ball, how we’re trying to dominate them, what we’re doing out of possession, in possession. Some tactical things we can do to hurt them. That’s a really positive thing that I’ve seen from the manager.”
Group L Picture
England has three points. Croatia and Panama each have none after the opener. Ghana has yet to play. If England handles business Tuesday, the path gets a lot smoother. And if Croatia can do their part against Panama, England’s final group match becomes a chance to rest players and experiment.
But nobody in that England camp is looking past Tuesday. Ghana has nothing to lose and the talent to make things uncomfortable. Semenyo alone can make a game chaotic. Tuchel’s group knows that. They just seem more interested in controlling the chaos themselves.
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