Group L is the final group of the 2026 World Cup draw on BETDAQ EXCHANGE WORLD CUP, and for English supporters it carries both enormous hope and the familiar weight of history. England arrive in North America ranked fourth in the world, under a new manager in Thomas Tuchel – Champions League winner, tactically astute, hired to end sixty years of hurt! Having completed arguably the most dominant qualifying campaign in the history of English football, eight wins from eight matches. Twenty-two goals scored. Zero conceded. They are the first European side ever to qualify with a perfect record and a clean sheet in every game. And yet the March friendlies already gave cause for thought – a 1-0 defeat to Japan, the first time England have ever lost to an Asian nation, and a scrappy 1-1 draw with Uruguay – and the questions that always hover over England at tournaments have not gone away. Squad selection has been a big debate, always it always is with England. I suppose the easier way to describe the Thomas Tuchel era is that it hasn’t been tested yet – their qualifying Group was at an exceptionally low level – now they have the big task ahead and Tuchel will be judged on how far England go. They are currently third favourites to win the World Cup at 8.2!
Group L
• England (see offer above!)
• Croatia
• Ghana
• Panama
🏴 England (🔢 FIFA Ranking: 4th) (see offer above!)
Thomas Tuchel (pictured below) took over from Gareth Southgate in early 2025 and has wasted no time putting his stamp on the national side. He’s made some big calls with squad selection. As I said above, he has to be judged on the teams performance here because their qualifying Group was so weak. They didn’t need to get out of first gear; obviously the clean sheet record was a nice feat, but more a reflection of the gulf in class. There are obvious huge positives though. Their squad is packed with talent. Harry Kane scored eight goals across the campaign and arrives at this tournament as arguably the finest striker in the world at this moment. Marcus Rashford has been reborn at Barcelona on loan, Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid, Declan Rice has just lifted the Premier League trophy for Arsenal. Let’s not read too much into the recent friendly results, but they are red flags. The opening game against Croatia on June 17th in Dallas will tell us a great deal about what we’re going to get from England. They are 1.45 to win the Group; anything less and there’ll be big drama in the UK media!
🇭🇷 Croatia (🔢 FIFA Ranking: 11th)
Croatia might be ranked highly by FIFA, but it certainly doesn’t feel like they are close to the top ten football sides in the world. That’s reflected in the Outright market, they are trading 140.0 to win! Compare that price to Germany who are 10th in the rankings; they are 17.5 to win the tournament. Croatia are the great survivors of international football major tournaments. They reached the Final in 2018, beating England in extra time in the Semi-Final along the way. They reached the Semi-Final in 2022, eliminating Brazil on penalties before losing to Argentina. At every tournament someone writes their obituary and at every tournament they prove the obituarists wrong. This squad has less depth than previous generations, the golden era is clearly in its final chapter, but the core that has delivered those results is still here! I feel like writing them off this time around; they are an aging side now, but as I said – every time we do that they reach the latter stages! Luka Modric (pictured below) is now 40 years old, Ivan Perisic is 37 – could this be the tournament that father time finally arrives? Croatia have broken English hearts before at 2-1 in extra time in Moscow in 2018. They will back themselves to do it again on June 17th in Dallas. They are 4.5 to win the Group.
🇬🇭 Ghana (🔢 FIFA Ranking: 74th)
Ghana arrive in North America having had the most turbulent preparation of any team in Group L. The qualifying campaign under Otto Addo was impressive – eight wins from ten matches in CAF Group I, but then came the friendly results: a humiliating 5-1 loss to Austria and a 2-1 defeat to Germany in March 2026. You could say that those sides are a level above them, but Addo was sacked. Carlos Queiroz – the 73 year old Portuguese veteran who has managed at five World Cups including Portugal, Iran and South Africa – was appointed just 72 days before the tournament, and has called it the most formidable challenge of his 43-year coaching career. Mohammed Kudus of Tottenham out injured is a huge blow. The attacking burden falls primarily on Antoine Semenyo (pictured below) of Manchester City, but it’s hard to see them troubling England and Croatia based on what we’ve seen.
🇵🇦 Panama (🔢 FIFA Ranking: 33rd)
Panama make their second ever World Cup appearance, eight years on from their debut in Russia 2018, and by coincidence find themselves in the same group as England once again – the side that beat them 6-1. They might be ranked higher than Ghana, but the market disagrees with that – they are rank outsiders to win the Group here at 50.0+. Panama have built their identity around extraordinary defensive organisation under manager Thomas Christiansen. They have their ranking because they went unbeaten through their CONCACAF qualifying Group, topped it, and arrived at this tournament off the back of reaching the finals of both the 2023 Gold Cup and the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League. They beat the United States 1-0 in a March 2025 friendly too. Their opening game against Ghana on June 17th in Toronto is the fixture they will target as their best opportunity for a result. Win that, and we’ll just have to see what happens but it’s hard to see them troubling the top two.
GROUP L BETTING PREDICTION
Who Will Top Group L And Who Will Qualify From Group L?
No doubt that this will be one of the most discussed Groups at the World Cup with England involved (see offer above!). England are the odds on favourites to win Group L, trading around 1.45 to top the Group. Croatia are their nearest challengers at around 4.5, with Ghana at around 12.5 and Panama at 50.0 or bigger. This is a Group of two halves I feel – it seems unthinkable that England and Croatia won’t occupy the top two spots here. However, you can point out some negatives – Croatia have an aging side and England can throw in some woeful performances from time to time. England should win this Group though. The squad depth, the qualifying record, Tuchel’s tactical intelligence and the wealth of attacking options make it hard to see past them and if anything the 1.45 looks a little big given Croatia are coming to the end of their golden generation.
The positive for Croatia is that, if they do have aging and tired legs, they do meet England in their first Group game which I feel is a positive for Croatia. If Croatia get a result in Dallas, this Group opens up considerably. I still feel that England with all their top players available, can win every game here and I’m happy to have a small bet at 1.45.
The Ultra Says:
One point win England Group L Winner at 1.45 with BETDAQ EXCHANGE WORLD CUP
