England bossed the ball for 90 minutes against Ghana on Wednesday. They had 78 percent possession. They completed 619 passes. They fired off 19 shots. Ghana managed two shots and 22 percent possession.
And England didn’t win.
The final score was 1-1 in a World Cup group stage match that felt less like a contest and more like a math problem England couldn’t solve. Ghana packed 10 men behind the ball, fouled 24 times, and dared Thomas Tuchel’s team to find a way through. England never did.
The draw leaves Group L wide open heading into the final matchday. But the conversation after the game wasn’t really about the result. It was about the two guys who never left the bench.
The names on everyone’s mind after the Ghana draw
Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t make Tuchel’s 26-man World Cup squad. The manager left both at home citing form issues and tactical preferences. But as Ghana sat deep in a compact low block and England passed sideways for long stretches, the absence of two of the most creative players in the Premier League felt like a gap you could drive a truck through.
On talkSPORT, Andy Goldstein didn’t hold back.
“That game for me was crying out for Trent,” Goldstein said. “If you need anyone on the right full-back position to whip crosses in, it was Trent.” He also pointed at Palmer. “When you’ve got a team that play in the way they do with 10 behind the ball and a low block and you need someone to unlock their defense, Cole Palmer, I mean, my goodness. It was a game for Palmer.”
Gabby Agbonlahor agreed and went right to the heart of the problem: England had no one capable of a killer pass from midfield or the flanks.
“That game was crying for someone who’s got that clinical pass,” Agbonlahor said. “That little lofted through ball into Harry Kane or one of the attacking players. We haven’t got that on the pitch.”
Tuchel’s choices look worse after 90 minutes of nothing
Tuchel picked a squad built on balance, defensive structure, and players in good club form. Noni Madueke got the start. Morgan Gibbs-White came off the bench. Neither created much. England had four shots on target across the whole match. Nine corners produced nothing. Ghana’s goalkeeper barely broke a sweat.
The irony is that the game was practically designed for what Palmer and Alexander-Arnold do best. Palmer drifts into half-spaces and finds passes that don’t look obvious. Alexander-Arnold can drop 40-yard crosses onto a striker’s head from a standstill. Against a team as deep as Ghana was, those skills become the difference between a win and a point.
Instead, England got control without incision. Possession without threat. Dominance without a win.
Fans online piled on. Goldstein and Agbonlahor listed the things that went wrong: Gordon starting, Tuchel’s subs, Madueke’s performance, the lack of goals from Declan Rice, Djed Spence getting the nod. And of course, no Palmer and no Alexander-Arnold.
World Cup games often turn on one moment. One cross. One pass that unlocks a set defense. England had 90 minutes of the ball and never found that moment. Now the question follows Tuchel all the way to the knockout rounds: did the answer stay home in England?
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