England, Ghana meet with knockout place in sight
England can book their place in the World Cup knockout stage with a game to spare when they face Ghana in Foxborough on Tuesday.
The Three Lions made an eye-catching start to the tournament with a 4-2 victory over Croatia, overcoming a couple of defensive lapses to produce one of their most fluent attacking displays in recent World Cup competition.
Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford were all on the scoresheet as Thomas Tuchel's side repeatedly found openings against a Croatia team that arrived in the United States as one of the highest-ranked sides in the tournament.
The result left England top of Group L and strengthened confidence around Tuchel's side heading into the second round of fixtures.
Declan Rice believes England have shown they can compete with anyone in the tournament after their opening victory over Croatia.
"We believe that if we can do that from the opening minute, with the players that we also have to come on and finish the game, we can beat any opponent in the world," Rice said.
Another three points would secure qualification before a final group-stage meeting with Panama.
Ghana, however, arrive with ambitions of their own after edging past Panama 1-0 in Toronto.
For much of the contest it appeared the Black Stars would have to settle for a point, only for Caleb Yirenkyi to strike deep into stoppage time and hand Carlos Queiroz's side a winning start.
The result was Ghana's first World Cup victory since 2010 and leaves them knowing a second successive win would also secure their place in the knockout rounds.
A place in the knockout stage would represent Ghana's best World Cup performance since reaching the quarter-finals in South Africa 16 years ago.
While England's attacking play drew most of the headlines against Croatia, Tuchel may consider changes at the back after seeing his side concede twice from promising positions.
Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice are all expected to be available after training ahead of the match, while Marc Guehi is pushing for a place in central defence.
Ghana could welcome Thomas Partey back into the starting lineup after his absence against Panama, although uncertainty remains over the fitness of goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi following his withdrawal during the opening match.
The two nations have met only once previously, drawing 1-1 in an international friendly in 2011.
England predicted lineup:
Pickford; James, Stones, Guehi, O'Reilly; Anderson, Rice; Madueke, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
Ghana predicted lineup:
Asare; Senaya, Adjetey, Opoku, Minseh; Yirenkyi, Partey; Fatawu, Sulemana, Semenyo; Ayew
