ShareEngland have one foot in the next round of the World Cup, and Thomas Tuchel’s team can finish the job off against Panama.By Ian KingEngland’s drab performance against Ghana means that they still have work to do in their final group match England’s goalless draw against Ghana undid much of the confidence that had started to grow after their swashbuckling 4-2 win over Croatia in their opening match. There’s little jeopardy for them, going into their final match against Panama, but with it still possible that they could end the evening in third place in the group, there’s still something to play for in New Jersey. At least, with being in Group L, they’ll go into their fixture knowing roughly what they need to do should they end up finding themselves in that position, unlike Scotland, who were left sweating over results elsewhere following their 3-0 defeat by Brazil on Wednesday. Defeat coupled with a Croatia win against Ghana could yet leave England finishing third in their group.Having lost 1-0 to both Ghana and Croatia, Panama are already eliminated from this year’s competition with a game to spare, but they still have their professional pride – and the possibility of a first-ever World Cup finals win, and what would be a huge surprise – to play for, although they start this match as massive underdogs. Panama will want to put the previous occasion they played England in the back of their mindsThis is only the second time that Panama have qualified for the World Cup finals, and it’s the second time in a row that they’ve been placed in the same group as England. This came in 2018, in the second group match for both teams in Nizhny Novgorod, with England winning 6-1. Panama have now played five games in the World Cup over the 2018 and 2026 finals, and they’ve lost all five. Harry Kane may have a point to prove following a lacklustre performance against GhanaWith two goals in England’s opening 4-2 win against Croatia, Harry Kane started the World Cup very much in the manner of a player who scored an astonishing 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich throughout 2025/26, in all competitions. But his performance against Ghana did not match the expectations on his shoulders, and he will want to get back on track against relatively modest opponents.The highest-rated player in the Panama team in their first two matches has been Amir Murillo, who’s been playing at right-back, even though he can play a variety of different positions. Murillo has got a bit of pedigree about him. He currently plays his club football in Türkiye with Beşiktaş, but he’s also played for Marseille, Anderlecht and RBNY. This will be his 96th appearance for the Panama national team. England have a couple of niggles which will likely result in a bit of team rotationThere will almost certainly be changes from the England team that drew with Panama. Declan Rice hasn’t been at 100% fitness for a while, and could be rested for this match, while Reece James complained about his hamstring after the match and could also miss out. Kobbie Mainoo could be drafted in to replace Rice, with Djed Spence switching sides to fill the gap left by James’ absence and Nico O’Reilly playing at left-back. Panama have had injury issues since before the start of the tournament. Adalberto Carrasquilla has missed both of their games so far and is unlikely to appear in this match, while captain and record appearance-holder Anibal Godoy missed their opening match and made a brief cameo from the bench for a couple of minutes against Croatia, but it’s questionable, whether he’ll be brought back into the starting eleven for this match.England may find Panama to be a very different proposition to what they were in 2018England’s first two matches of this tournament have shown the two faces of Thomas Tuchel’s team; excellent for spells against Croatia, but still capable of being woefully stodgy, as they were against Ghana. They have momentum to rebuild following their disappointing second performance; the alternative is that the vacuum created by its surprise disappearance will be filled with familiar neuroses which could ultimately damage their hopes of progressing far in the tournament. And the evidence of 2026 so far has been that Panama could be a far tougher nut to crack than they were in 2018. They have lost both of their matches, but both of these defeats were only by a 1-0 margin and it took Ghana until the 95th-minute before they broke the deadlock against them in their opening fixture. And while it’s true to say that they only have pride to play for, it’s equally true to mention that England really struggled against Ghana with exactly the sort of low block that Panama have employed in both of their matches so far. But catastrophism is what the English do best and the truth remains that, on paper, England have a massively superior team to Panama, even if they rest a handful of players for this match. They should have plenty enough to get through this match, even with their mild injury concerns, so I’m going to go for a 2-0 win for England, and for all hell to break loose should they fail to win this one. (Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game at the World Cup with FotMob this summer – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.England have one foot in the next round of the World Cup, and Thomas Tuchel’s team can finish the job off against Panama.By Ian KingEngland’s drab performance against Ghana means that they still have work to do in their final group match England’s goalless draw against Ghana undid much of the confidence that had started to grow after their swashbuckling 4-2 win over Croatia in their opening match. There’s little jeopardy for them, going into their final match against Panama, but with it still possible that they could end the evening in third place in the group, there’s still something to play for in New Jersey. At least, with being in Group L, they’ll go into their fixture knowing roughly what they need to do should they end up finding themselves in that position, unlike Scotland, who were left sweating over results elsewhere following their 3-0 defeat by Brazil on Wednesday. Defeat coupled with a Croatia win against Ghana could yet leave England finishing third in their group.Having lost 1-0 to both Ghana and Croatia, Panama are already eliminated from this year’s competition with a game to spare, but they still have their professional pride – and the possibility of a first-ever World Cup finals win, and what would be a huge surprise – to play for, although they start this match as massive underdogs. Panama will want to put the previous occasion they played England in the back of their mindsThis is only the second time that Panama have qualified for the World Cup finals, and it’s the second time in a row that they’ve been placed in the same group as England. This came in 2018, in the second group match for both teams in Nizhny Novgorod, with England winning 6-1. Panama have now played five games in the World Cup over the 2018 and 2026 finals, and they’ve lost all five. Harry Kane may have a point to prove following a lacklustre performance against GhanaWith two goals in England’s opening 4-2 win against Croatia, Harry Kane started the World Cup very much in the manner of a player who scored an astonishing 61 goals in 51 appearances for Bayern Munich throughout 2025/26, in all competitions. But his performance against Ghana did not match the expectations on his shoulders, and he will want to get back on track against relatively modest opponents.The highest-rated player in the Panama team in their first two matches has been Amir Murillo, who’s been playing at right-back, even though he can play a variety of different positions. Murillo has got a bit of pedigree about him. He currently plays his club football in Türkiye with Beşiktaş, but he’s also played for Marseille, Anderlecht and RBNY. This will be his 96th appearance for the Panama national team. England have a couple of niggles which will likely result in a bit of team rotationThere will almost certainly be changes from the England team that drew with Panama. Declan Rice hasn’t been at 100% fitness for a while, and could be rested for this match, while Reece James complained about his hamstring after the match and could also miss out. Kobbie Mainoo could be drafted in to replace Rice, with Djed Spence switching sides to fill the gap left by James’ absence and Nico O’Reilly playing at left-back. Panama have had injury issues since before the start of the tournament. Adalberto Carrasquilla has missed both of their games so far and is unlikely to appear in this match, while captain and record appearance-holder Anibal Godoy missed their opening match and made a brief cameo from the bench for a couple of minutes against Croatia, but it’s questionable, whether he’ll be brought back into the starting eleven for this match.England may find Panama to be a very different proposition to what they were in 2018England’s first two matches of this tournament have shown the two faces of Thomas Tuchel’s team; excellent for spells against Croatia, but still capable of being woefully stodgy, as they were against Ghana. They have momentum to rebuild following their disappointing second performance; the alternative is that the vacuum created by its surprise disappearance will be filled with familiar neuroses which could ultimately damage their hopes of progressing far in the tournament. And the evidence of 2026 so far has been that Panama could be a far tougher nut to crack than they were in 2018. They have lost both of their matches, but both of these defeats were only by a 1-0 margin and it took Ghana until the 95th-minute before they broke the deadlock against them in their opening fixture. And while it’s true to say that they only have pride to play for, it’s equally true to mention that England really struggled against Ghana with exactly the sort of low block that Panama have employed in both of their matches so far. But catastrophism is what the English do best and the truth remains that, on paper, England have a massively superior team to Panama, even if they rest a handful of players for this match. They should have plenty enough to get through this match, even with their mild injury concerns, so I’m going to go for a 2-0 win for England, and for all hell to break loose should they fail to win this one. (Cover image from IMAGO)You can follow every game at the World Cup with FotMob this summer – featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.Add FotMob as a preferred news source on Google by clicking – here.