Ghana pulled off a sensational upset against England at the 2026 World Cup
On June 23, the England national team was unable to overcome Ghana’s resistance in their second-round match of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup. The match ended in a scoreless draw, which was an unexpected result for one of the tournament favorites.
The match between England and Ghana was a fairly tight affair with few real scoring chances. The English took possession of the ball from the opening minutes and controlled the game in the opponent’s half for most of the time, but the Ghanaians played very disciplined defense.
In the first half, Thomas Tuchel’s team created only a few half-chances. For example, Declan Rice took two shots on goal, but in one instance the ball sailed over the crossbar, and in the other, a defender blocked the shot. Jude Bellingham also mounted a dangerous attack, but his attempt from outside the penalty area was also neutralized. Ghana rarely pushed forward in large numbers across the midfield, relying instead on counterattacks led by Iñaki Williams and Jordan Ayew. This contributed to the fact that the score remained scoreless at halftime.
After the break, the pattern of play did not change significantly. England continued to control the ball and look for open spaces near the opponent’s penalty area, but there was no real threat near Benjamin Asare’s goal for a long time. It wasn’t until the 57th minute that England managed their first shot on target, when Anthony Gordon fired from the corner of the penalty area, but Ghana’s goalkeeper easily dealt with the attempt. The Ghanaians responded with rare forays forward, and their most promising counterattack ended when Prince Adou held onto the ball too long, causing the attack to lose its momentum.
Midway through the second half, Tuchel injected new life into the game with a series of substitutions, bringing on Bukayo Saka, Nico O’Riley, Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, and Marcus Rashford. It was after this that England’s pressure became noticeably stronger. Harry Kane fired a dangerous low shot from outside the penalty area, but Asare made a superb save. England created its best chance to snatch the win in the 86th minute: first, Asare made a brilliant save on a powerful shot by Saka aimed at the bottom corner, then O’Reilly’s header hit the crossbar, and Kane failed to hit the target on the rebound.
Despite England’s final push, Ghana’s defense held firm. The African team displayed extremely organized play without the ball and managed to contain one of the tournament’s strongest attacks. In the end, neither team managed to score a single goal, ending the match in a scoreless draw, with Ghana’s goalkeeper Benjamin Asare emerging as the hero after making several crucial saves late in the game.
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