The Sports Guru
England controlled almost everything against Ghana in Boston except the only thing that decides matches. This covers a goalless night where Thomas Tuchel's side had four-fifths of the ball, hit the crossbar and were cleared off the line, yet still could not score, and where a stubborn Ghana and a furious Carlos Queiroz walked away with a point and a grievance.
England had the ball, the territory and the better chances, and none of it was worth a single goal. A 0-0 draw with Ghana in Boston was the kind of night that flatters a possession figure and settles almost nothing, because for all their control Thomas Tuchel's side could not find the finish that 80% of the ball is supposed to buy. They are through to the last 32 in everything but the formal confirmation. Top spot in Group L, the thing they actually came to America to settle, is still sitting open in front of them.
England dominate everything except the score
The numbers told one story and the scoreboard told another. England completed 190 more passes than Ghana inside the first 35 minutes, a level of control that usually ends with a team two goals clear and managing the game. Instead it ended with Declan Rice heading Noni Madueke's cross over the bar on 37 minutes, the first of a long evening's worth of openings that England kept finding and kept failing to take. Anthony Gordon drove one straight at Benjamin Asare on 57, Madueke fired over from a half-cleared free-kick on 64, and the pattern hardened into something close to comedy. The chances arrived on schedule. The goal never did.
This is the riddle of a side that opened with a 4-2 win over Croatia built on directness and nerve. Against a team happy to sit in and defend its 18-yard line, England had the patience to keep the ball but not the cutting edge to make it count, and the longer the game went the more that gap mattered.
Ghana hold firm, and feel aggrieved
Ghana came to defend and did it well, but they left believing they should have had more than a clean sheet to show for it. On 79 minutes Prince Adu was played in behind the England line and went down under Ezri Konsa's sliding challenge inside the area, and from the Ghana bench it looked a penalty. Both the on-field officials and the video review thought otherwise, and the decision lit a fuse in Carlos Queiroz. "Is VAR still working in the World Cup?" the Ghana manager asked afterwards, insisting his side had been denied a clear spot-kick. He has been around long enough to know a complaint rarely changes a result. He made it anyway, and not without cause.
For Ghana, a goalless draw against one of the group's heavyweights is a fine night's work. Carlos Queiroz's side were organised, disciplined and protected by a goalkeeper in form, and the point all but guarantees their Group L campaign stretches into the knockout rounds. Asare, the man who frustrated England most, will take the bulk of the credit and deserve it.
The misses pile up, and Kane leads them
If one passage summed the evening up, it came late. Bukayo Saka's snap shot was turned away by Asare on 86 minutes, and a minute later Nico O'Reilly's header thudded against the crossbar, the rebound dropping to Harry Kane with the goal gaping and the net begging. Kane skied it over. England's most reliable finisher, the man who has spent a career punishing exactly that chance, sent it into the Boston night, and the groan around the stadium said everything about how the game had gone. In stoppage time Marc Guehi's header was cleared off the line, the last act of a match England spent attacking and never led.
Tuchel, for his part, refused to climb the walls about it. "Not frustrated," the England manager said. "I saw it coming as I knew this would be a difficult game." It was the response of a man who values the four points and the qualification they secure over the manner of an awkward draw, and who knows a blank afternoon in the group stage is a problem he can still fix before it becomes a costly one.
England leave Boston with progression in their pocket and a question still on the table. Four points from two games means the knockout rounds are a formality, but first place in Group L remains unclaimed, and on this evidence the finishing that will decide it is the part of their game that needs the most work. They controlled a match and drew it. That is a strange thing to take into a final group game, and a useful warning to carry there.
Frequently Asked Questions
England and Ghana drew 0-0 in their Group L fixture at Boston Stadium, watched by a crowd of 63,983. England dominated possession with an 80% share and created the better chances, hitting the crossbar through Nico O'Reilly and seeing a late Marc Guehi header cleared off the line, but they could not find a goal against a well-organised Ghana defence marshalled by goalkeeper Benjamin Asare.
Ghana felt they should have had a penalty on 79 minutes when Prince Adu went down under a sliding challenge from Ezri Konsa inside the England area. The on-field officials and the video review both waved the appeal away. Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz disputed the call afterwards, asking "Is VAR still working in the World Cup?" and insisting his side had been denied a clear spot-kick.
Yes. On 87 minutes Nico O'Reilly's header struck the crossbar and the rebound fell to Harry Kane in front of an open goal. England's record scorer skied the chance over the bar when a goal looked the easier option. It was the clearest of several missed opportunities on a night when England's finishing repeatedly let them down.
The draw moved England to four points from two Group L games, enough to all but secure their passage to the last 32. The outstanding question is top spot in the group, which remains unsettled going into the final round of fixtures. Thomas Tuchel said he was not frustrated, having expected a difficult game, but England's wastefulness in front of goal is the obvious area to address.
The point against England leaves Ghana on the brink of reaching the last 32. Carlos Queiroz's side defended resolutely for the goalless draw, and the result means their progress from Group L is close to certain. Goalkeeper Benjamin Asare was central to the clean sheet, making important saves to deny Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka across the course of the match.
Sources: Match report, chance sequence, key moments, attendance and the VAR penalty controversy, along with the post-match comments from Thomas Tuchel and Carlos Queiroz, as reported in Sky Sports' coverage of England 0-0 Ghana at the World Cup.
