{"id":33748,"date":"2026-06-23T16:02:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=33748"},"modified":"2026-06-23T16:02:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:02:26","slug":"england-target-knockout-spot-against-ghana-at-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/england-target-knockout-spot-against-ghana-at-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"England Target Knockout Spot Against Ghana at World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (FN) \u2014 England will aim to secure a place in the knockout rounds of the World Cup on Tuesday when they face Ghana, while Portugal look to revive their campaign after a disappointing opening draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Three Lions opened with a 4-2 victory over Croatia, a performance that lifted confidence in their bid for a first major championship in six decades. Captain Harry Kane scored twice, with Jude Bellingham also on target, underscoring England\u2019s attacking strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midfielder Declan Rice said the challenge will be to replicate the team\u2019s second-half display against Croatia. \u201cThat performance was probably the benchmark for us,\u201d Rice said. \u201cIf we can start at that level, we can beat any opponent in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manager Thomas Tuchel acknowledged the pressure of a World Cup campaign but said his squad is embracing it. \u201cWe have so many winners and experienced players who can cope with the pressure,\u201d Tuchel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ghana, who defeated Panama 1-0 in their opener, can also qualify with a win. Their attack is led by Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo, a London-born forward who poses a major threat to England\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, Portugal face Uzbekistan in Houston after a turbulent start. Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s subdued performance in a 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo has reignited debate about his role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Roberto Martinez defended the 41-year-old captain, calling him \u201ca role model for our team,\u201d but declined to confirm whether Ronaldo will start. Portugal, considered one of the tournament favorites, will be under pressure to deliver a stronger showing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The matches come a day after Argentina and France advanced to the last 32, underscoring the stakes for other top contenders. England and Portugal\u2019s performances will be closely watched as the tournament\u2019s knockout picture begins to take shape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (FN) \u2014 England will aim to secure a place in the knockout rounds of the World Cup on Tuesday when they face Ghana, while Portugal look to revive their campaign after a disappointing opening draw. The Three Lions opened with a 4-2 victory over Croatia, a performance that lifted confidence in their bid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":33750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,4,5,3,7,1],"tags":[19977,19974,19975,19980,19976,19978,19979],"class_list":["post-33748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-featured","category-international","category-naija-news","category-sports","category-uncategorized","tag-cristiano-ronaldo-performance","tag-england-world-cup-2026","tag-ghana-vs-england-match","tag-harry-kane-goals","tag-portugal-vs-uzbekistan-match","tag-roberto-martinez-portugal-coach","tag-thomas-tuchel-england-manager"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AFP__20260617__B7GA393__v1__MidRes__FblWc2026Match22EngCro.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33818,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33748\/revisions\/33818"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}