England 0-0 Ghana - FIFA World Cup result as Ghana survive late England barrage to earn a point in Boston

Thomas Tuchel's side failed to make it two wins from two at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, drawing 0-0 against a defensively resolute Ghana, despite a late flurry of attacks.

The pattern of the game was established from the off, with Carlos Queiroz's side opting to defend deep, limiting any space in behind and looking to frustrate England.

It was a plan that was executed to perfection in the first half, with this match becoming the first at the 2026 FIFA World Cup to see both sides fail to register a single shot on target in the first half.

Harry Kane cut an isolated figure in the first half, having nine touches of the ball, with just two of those coming inside the Ghana penalty area.

The first shot on target of the match came just before the hour mark, with Anthony Gordon firing at Benjamin Asare, who was on hand to make a routine save.

Thomas Tuchel turned to his bench as he looked to spark some life into England's lacklustre attack, bringing on Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze with 15 minutes to go, before bringing on Marcus Rashford 10 minutes later.

England survived a penalty scare when Ezri Konsa appeared to knock Prince Adu to the ground in the 78th minute, with the defender failing to make contact with the ball, but nothing was given, and the referee was not instructed to conduct a VAR review.

England, for the first time in the match, began to really knock on the door with 10 minutes to go, winning a succession of corners and putting the Black Stars under real pressure.

The Three Lions' best chance came after 88 minutes, with Nico O'Reilly rising highest to get his head on a cross, only to see it cannon back off the crossbar and fall to the usually dependable Harry Kane, who blasted his effort well over the crossbar from close range. Tuchel looked on from the sideline with disbelief that his side hadn't taken the lead.

Ghana survived any further scares, picking up a well-earned point in Boston against one of the tournament favourites. They sit in second place in the group, level on four points with tonight's opponents.

For England, this match was somewhat of a reality check, and the result will certainly lead to more questions regarding their inability to create when faced with a deep, stubborn defence.

England captain Harry Kane speaking to the BBC:
"We had some chances there, obviously. I had a big chance there. We hit the bar with Nico [O'Reilly] as well...it could have easily been a game where we came away with a win."
"We didn't concede too many chances, a couple of counterattacks in the whole game, but they've got some dangerous players, and overall we controlled that pretty well...We wanted to win, but we take the point, and we're still in a great position in the group."

Speaking to BBC, England manager Thomas Tuchel had this to say about Harry Kane's miss:

"Normally, a clear goal for us. It's a big chance and then another chance. It would've been deserved. We knew it would be difficult. They went even more defensive than in the first match; they defended in a 4-5-1. We found our intensity the longer the half went but we couldn't get the reward.
"We were very good at defending the counter-attacks for most of the match. We have to pay a huge amount of attention to that. Subs were very good".

When asked whether frustration was the overriding emotion at full time, England midfielder Declan Rice told the BBC:

"Yeah, I think so. It's always difficult when you play against 11 behind the ball as deep as they was. You've got to find solutions and last 10 minutes we probably found more than we did on game and we was unlucky not to score but we stay positive, we keep going and we still have a great chance to top the group against Panama so positivity all round."

When asked why England couldn't find any solutions to Ghana's defence, he had this to say:
"You have to give credit to Ghana sometimes, you know, 5-4-1 off the ball, very, very compact, tight spaces to play through but of course on the other hand maybe we can do a little bit more with the ball and create a bit more but it's tough you know they're good players like we said that it was never going to be an easy game and now we have one more in the group to finish top so we need to be positive."

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Tonight's match might have ended in a draw, but it's by no means a disaster for England, who remain top of Group L and who will finish as group winners should they beat Panama on MD3.

Panama and Croatia, who are yet to pick up a point at the 2026 World Cup, face off in an hours time.

Baba Rahman is on for Prince Adu.

Declan Rice's corner passes everyone in the penalty area and goes out for a goal kick.

Will this be the moment for Thomas Tuchel's men?

There will be a minimum of six minutes added on at the end of this one.

Kojo Peprah Oppong is on for Marvin Senaya.

Nico O'Reilly heads onto the crossbar, the ball then falls to Harry Kane, who blasts the rebound well over the crossbar. England can't believe they haven't taken the lead.

Marcus Rashford is on for Noni Madueke.

Bykayo Saka does brilliantly down the right-hand side, bringing the ball down and taking it past a defender before being fouled.

That is a real warning to England. Ghana break forward quickly with the ball threaded through to Adu, who takes a heavy touch and the chance gets away from him.

Morgan Rogers does well down the right-hand side to win a corner.

Morgan Rogers is on for Jude Bellingham and Eberechi Eze is on for Elliot Anderson.

The second half hydration break is underway.

It's an easy one for the Ghana goalkeeper but it's another shot on target for England. This time, Kane fires a low effort looking for the corner, but it's no trouble for Benjamin Asare.