England manager Thomas Tuchel has been handed a major boost with Bukayo Saka returning to full fitness ahead of their second World Cup group stage game against Ghana.
Saka has been carefully nursing an Achilles injury throughout 2026 and was only able to feature as a substitute in the opening 4-2 win against Croatia, though his involvement in Marcus Rashford’s goal was a sign of just how effective the Arsenal man can be at full tilt. That moment might not be too far off with Tuchel confirming in his pre-match press conference that his No. 7 was pain-free.
“Bukayo is getting better and better,” he said. “He is more and more free in his movements. He feels no more pain. He was able to do both our training sessions in the last two days on the highest level. He is ready to go.”
Whether Tuchel might opt to hold Saka back is another matter, especially given the form of the man who filled in on the right flank against Croatia. What Noni Madueke lacks compared to his Arsenal teammate in end product, he perhaps makes up for in explosive ball carrying.
None of England’s attackers advanced the ball as far across the 90 minutes against Croatia as Madueke did in 72 and his pace down the right flank was a weapon his teammates continually looked to exploit with quick passing. Opta’s expected possession value (xPV) model — which assesses how much any on-ball action increases a team’s probability of scoring — assessed that England’s actions added 1.04 xPV on Wednesday. A massive 0.56 of that xPV came from Madueke, who has always profiled as something of a stats darling.
Now it will be up to him to translate those metrics into key attacking contributions. The same might be true of Anthony Gordon, who will feel Marcus Rashford’s breath on his shoulder after an underwhelming opener. Still, it is possible that Tuchel parks all these selection dilemmas until after the Ghana game. Win in Foxborough and so long as Panama do not beat Croatia, top spot in Group L will be secured for England.
That would afford Tuchel an opportunity to rotate against the Panamanians, saving some minutes in the legs of Harry Kane, Declan Rice and even Saka for a path to the final that might take them up to altitude and Mexico City for the round of 16 before a trip to the sweltering Miami Gardens for a quarterfinal.
Viewing information
Date: Tuesday, June 23 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
Location: Gillette Stadium — Foxborough, Mass.
TV: FOX (Eng), Telemundo (Spa) | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
Odds: England -550; Draw +600; Ghana +1800
England vs. Ghana predicted lineups
England: Jordan Pickford; Reece James, John Stones, Ezri Konsa, Nico O’Reilly; Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice; Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon; Harry Kane
Ghana: Benjamin Asare; Gideon Mensah, Jerome Opoku, Jonas Adjetey, Marvin Senaya; Kamaldeen Suleman, Elisha Owusu, Thomas Partey; Ernest Nuamah, Jordan Ayew, Antoine Semenyo
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England vs. Ghana pick, prediction
Ghana showed relatively little against Panama to suggest they’ll discombobulate one of the best teams in the tournament. This really should be a game that England lock up in style. Pick: England 3, Ghana 0
Check out our World Cup expert predictions.
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