England and Ghana boosted their hopes of reaching the knockout rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after playing out a goalless draw in Foxborough on Tuesday.

The result leaves both teams in a strong position to qualify for the last 32 from Group L, with England remaining top of the standings on goal difference.

Led by coach Thomas Tuchel, England now have four points from two matches and sit ahead of Ghana heading into their final group-stage encounter against Panama. A victory in that match would likely secure top spot in the group and a place in the knockout rounds.

England began their World Cup campaign in impressive fashion with a 4-2 victory over Croatia, showcasing an attacking display that raised expectations. However, they found it much more difficult against a disciplined Ghanaian side that defended resolutely throughout the match.

Despite enjoying large spells of possession, England struggled to create clear-cut chances against the Black Stars. Their inability to break down Ghana’s defensive structure meant goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi was rarely tested.

Ghana, meanwhile, felt they were denied a potential penalty in the 79th minute when defender Ezri Konsa appeared to bring down substitute Prince Adu inside the penalty area. However, no spot-kick was awarded.

England’s frustrating evening was summed up late in the game when captain Harry Kane blasted a golden opportunity over the crossbar from close range with the goal at his mercy.

The draw leaves England and Ghana level on four points while Croatia and Panama were scheduled to meet later on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Croatia captain Luka Modrić was set to make his 200th appearance for the national team, a milestone achieved by only a handful of male international footballers.

Away from the pitch, Gianni Infantino confirmed that Donald Trump will attend the World Cup final in New Jersey on July 19 and participate in the trophy presentation ceremony.

Infantino said: “We will be together with the president enjoying the final and handing the trophy to the winner, of course, together.”

Meanwhile, tournament favourites France announced that head coach Didier Deschamps had temporarily left the team camp following the death of his mother. Assistant coach Guy Stéphan will oversee preparations for France’s final group-stage match against Norway.

With one group game remaining, both England and Ghana remain firmly on course to secure places in the knockout phase of the tournament.

The National Sports Commission (NSC) has confirmed that Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle will remain in charge of Nigeria’s senior national team after agreeing to new contract terms with the authorities.

In addition to retaining his role with the Super Eagles, the Malian tactician has also been appointed head coach of Nigeria’s U-23 team, the Olympic Eagles, as part of plans to strengthen the country’s football development structure.

NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko disclosed the development on Tuesday after a strategic meeting between the Commission and the Nigeria Football Federation in Abuja, where discussions focused on the future of Nigeria’s national teams.

Chelle’s current two-year contract is scheduled to expire at the end of 2026, and discussions over a renewed and improved agreement have been ongoing for several months.

Following Nigeria’s third-place finish at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, reports emerged that the 47-year-old coach had requested a monthly salary package of $130,000, which would cover the salaries of his assistants and other contractual obligations.

Providing an update on the negotiations, Dikko said both parties had successfully reached an agreement.

“We have reached new terms with the coach about his new remuneration. We are also going to take care of his assistants, and there are other benchmarks that we have put on the table, and I’m sure the coach will be very excited about it,” Dikko stated.

As part of the new arrangement, Chelle will also oversee the Olympic Eagles as Nigeria begins preparations for the men’s football competition at the 2028 Summer Olympics.

According to Dikko, the decision was made to create a stronger pathway between the U-23 team and the Super Eagles, ensuring that emerging talents can transition smoothly into the senior national side.

“With the NFF, we also agreed that the coach will take care of the U-23 national team because we have young players coming into the Super Eagles within that age bracket.

“So, Eric Chelle and his team, plus other people who will support them, will handle the project. The objective is not to give the coach more work but to start building for the future,” he added.

The additional responsibility places Chelle at the centre of Nigeria’s long-term football strategy, with expectations that he will help revive the fortunes of the Olympic Eagles.

Nigeria’s U-23 side has struggled in recent years, failing to qualify for both the men’s football tournaments at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Similarly, the Super Eagles have missed qualification for the last two FIFA World Cup tournaments, increasing pressure on Chelle to deliver success at both senior and youth levels in the years ahead.

For 25 minutes on 13 June, Morocco made World Cup history during their 1-1 draw with Brazil – not one of their players on the pitch had been born in Morocco.

The 2026 Fifa Men’s World Cup has by far the highest proportion ever of players representing countries they were not born in – almost a quarter of all the participating players.

Already the tournament has seen a player score against his birth nation, when France-born Ibrahim Mbaye netted for Senegal in their 3-1 defeat to Les Bleus on 16 June.

This follows the awkward moment in 2022, when Switzerland attacker Breel Embolo, born in Cameroon, became the first player in the tournament’s more than 90-year history to score against his own birth nation.

Instead of leaping in triumph and delight, he briefly lifted his hands in an almost apologetic gesture.

“I knew that if I scored I wouldn’t celebrate the goal, out of respect. That didn’t mean to say I wasn’t happy about it, though,” Embolo told reporters at the time.

In the 2026 World Cup, only eight out of 48 teams do not have a player born abroad, according to official squad lists submitted to world football’s governing body Fifa.

World Cup debutants Curacao feature only a single player born on the Caribbean island as part of their 26-man squad. The country is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and most of its team are Netherlands-born.

Meanwhile Qatar has brought players from 10 nationalities, from Africans to Europeans and a South American.

A high-profile case is Michael Olise. Born and bred in London, the Bayern Munich winger has chosen to represent France, his mother’s birth country.

Among foreign-born players representing 2026 co-hosts the United States is Antonee Robinson, who was born in Milton Keynes in England but qualified for the US team through his father.

Such switches have created some family divisions, though.

Four sets of brothers are representing different teams: Desire and Guela Doue (France and Ivory Coast), Nico and Iñaki Williams (Spain and Ghana), Harry and John Souttar (Australia and Scotland) and half brothers Derrick Luckassen and Brian Brobbey (Ghana and Netherlands).

Before 2026, this had happened only twice – when half brothers Jerome and Kevin Prince Boateng played in two World Cups (2010 and 2014) representing Germany and Ghana. They faced each other on the pitch on both occasions.

Professor Gijsbert Oonk, a Dutch historian and expert in migration and identity studies at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, says the trend is a reflection of a changing world.

“Almost 4% of the world population lives in a country in which they were not born. This is even higher with high-skilled workers and elite athletes,” he explains. “It’s a reflection of migration patterns.”

A short(ish) history of flag-switching

The proportion of foreign-born players in World Cup teams has bounced up and down over the decades, until recently.

According to research from Oxford University’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), it stayed between 2% and 14% until the last two tournaments when it has surged, reaching 16.5% in Qatar in 2022.

The proportion rose to more than 23% in 2026 – with the total number of foreign-born players reaching 289 out of 1,248, as the number of competing teams rose from 32 to 48.

Fifa was created in 1904, but only established formal nationality rules in the 1960s. Until then, players could play for any country they chose to.

The most prominent example is Luis Monti. The Argentine midfielder represented his country in the 1930 World Cup, where the South Americans finished second. He then switched allegiance and joined Italy for the 1934 tournament, winning the trophy with them.

Monti remains the only person to have played in World Cup finals for two different nations.

In 1962, Fifa issued eligibility criteria, dictating that players must have citizenship of the country they wished to play for, and could no longer represent more than one nation over their career.

Exceptions were made only for players whose nationalities changed involuntarily, such as for athletes from the former USSR and Yugoslavia.

In one example, the late 80s and 90s saw more than a dozen UK-born footballers called up to represent the Republic of Ireland by manager Jack Charlton. They qualified through Irish relatives and made a big contribution to the success of that team.

Further changes came in 2004, when Fifa began allowing players to represent one country at youth level and switch to another at senior level.

However, it also stipulated that a player should have a “clear connection” to a country – either at least one parent or grandparent who was born in the country, or to have been resident for at least two years.

Since then, the residency requirement has increased to five years, while players are now allowed to switch nationality if they have played three or fewer senior international matches prior to the age of 21 for the side they are switching from.

Enter the Atlas Lions

These rule changes have been welcome news for so-called diaspora nations, where a significant portion of their eligible citizens are spread across the globe – like Morocco.

In the 2010s, in a push to improve the quality of its football, the country placed scouts in European countries with large Moroccan communities, such as France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

The resulting injection of talent from diaspora players was one the factors behind Moroccan football’s finest hour: becoming the first African nation to reach World Cup semi-finals, in Qatar in 2022.

Two of the three Morocco players who scored during the quarter-final penalty shoot out were not born in Morocco – Netherlands-born Hakim Ziyech, and Achraf Hakimi, who secured the victory over his own birth nation, Spain.

“This is a story of a country that has learned to treat its diaspora not as an afterthought, but as a crucial part of its national football system,” says Dr Myriam Cherti, a senior researcher at COMPAS.

Decision ‘from the heart’

Dr Cherti says footballers’ choices can be shaped by “professional, emotional and political considerations”, including family expectations or international opportunities they might not otherwise have had.

For example, Ibrahim Mbaye had played for France at all youth levels, but made the surprise announcement last year, aged 17, that he would play for Senegal, his mother’s birth country.

“I will never regret choosing to play for Senegal because it was a decision from the heart,” he told Senegalese broadcaster RTS at the time.

Others, such as former Real Madrid defender Pepe, opt to represent the country in which they have become naturalised.

According to Brazilian media citing his father, Pepe turned down an approach about representing Brazil in 2006 and instead chose Portugal, where he had been living and playing since 2001.

He ended up facing his birth country in a heated group stage match at the 2010 World Cup.

“I never regretted my decision to become Portuguese,” he said at a press conference at the time. “I see facing Brazil as any other game: I will always honour Portugal’s colours.”

Sometimes, recruitment can be unexpected. In 2018, Dublin-born Roberto Lopes, whose father is from Cape Verde, received a message from the country’s manager Rui Aguas via LinkedIn, enquiring whether he would be interested in playing for the national team.

Lopes, who plays for Irish side Shamrock Rovers, ignored the message for months thinking it was spam, before realising his mistake. “I felt so rude,” Lopes told BBC Sport.

The defender went on to become one of the heroes of Cape Verde’s goalless draw against European champions Spain on 15 June.

Divisive issue

So-called “flag-choosing” does not, however, come without controversy.

Sepp Blatter, Fifa president from 1998 to 2015, was critical during his tenure about the growing trend at the time of countries fast-tracking naturalisation for players – particularly Brazilians.

He warned in 2007 that a World Cup dominated by teams “full of Brazilian players” was a “real danger”.

Public judgement can also be harsh: Brazil-born Spain attacker Diego Costa was booed relentlessly by local crowds during his adopted country’s brief participation in the 2014 World Cup – played in Brazil – for choosing to represent the Europeans.

Prof Gijsbert Oonk, who teaches students of various nationalities, reports that the issue proves divisive every time it is raised in his lectures.

Some argue that fans “cannot identify with a country anymore” if its team relies on foreign-born players, he says. “But others take a human rights approach and say ‘let them be, it’s their job, their income’,” he adds.

For Dr Cherti, football cannot remain immune to societal shifts: “The national team is no longer only a reflection of population inside the border. It’s increasingly a reflection of migration, history and global mobility.”

DRC have suffered a 1-0 defeat in their second match against Colombia.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has lost their second group-stage match 1-0 to Colombia, putting their qualification for the World Cup knockout stage hanging in the balance.

Colombian coach Nestor Lorenzo praised his side’s composure and attacking variety in the Group K match on Tuesday in Guadalajara. With the victory, they have now qualified for the round of 32 with a match to spare.

Colombia, who opened with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan, moved to six points from two games after breaking down a disciplined DRC side, with Lorenzo saying his team had grown in performance despite the pressure of a tight contest.

Colombia face Portugal, DRC face Uzbekistan

Lorenzo said Colombia had to use different channels and lanes to find space against DRC compact defence.

Colombia face Portugal next with Lorenzo calling them “a huge team” and a major contender to win the World Cup.

Colombia must not focus only on Cristiano Ronaldo. “You have to be very careful and not leave him alone in different situations, especially whenever he is close to the goal area. But Portugal is a complete team. You should not only point out Cristiano.”

Lorenzo thanked the large Colombian support in Mexico, saying the players were inspired by the “yellow shirt” filling the stadium.

DRC had drawn 1-1 with Portugal in their first game and will now face Uzbekistan, who lost their first match 3-1 to Colombia. Congo will look for 3 points here to hope on any chance of advancing as best losers.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored for the sixth World Cup

We are nearly two weeks into the World Cup and Cristiano Ronaldo belatedly showed up. The 41-year-old became Portugal’s most prolific player of all-time at the World Cup with his ninth and 10th goals, surpassing the great Eusebio. The difference is it took Ronaldo six World Cups. Eusebio played only one, 60 years ago in 1966.

Meanwhile in Boston, England huffed and puffed but could not blow Ghana away. They had 79 per cent of the ball, hit 19 shots, many of them in the final half-hour but couldn’t make a breakthrough. It was only the fourth 0-0 of an otherwise entertaining tournament in which we have probably been spoilt for goals.

“Very important the highs don’t get too high and the lows don’t get too low,” Thomas Tuchel, England’s head coach, said. “It’s not a low, it’s a difficult match of football, that can happen at any time.”

And in the final game of the day, Colombia sealed their spot in the knockout rounds with a hard-fought 1-0 win against DR Congo. Who do they have to fend off if they want to finish top of Group K? Only Ronaldo’s Portugal…

Here is what happened on day 13…

Group K: Portugal 5-0 Uzbekistan
Group L: England 0-0 Ghana 
Group L: Panama 0-1 Croatia 
Group K: Colombia 1-0 DR Congo 

Are World Cup stars stat-padding?

“I’m back!” Cristiano Ronaldo defiantly announced. The criticism he seemed to address wasn’t about the perceived absence of someone ever-present, as he became the first man to score in six World Cups. It was more about questions such as: why is Ronaldo still around? Can he still do it without burdening this talented Portugal team?

Two goals against Uzbekistan in a 5-0 win was Ronaldo’s answer. “Oh my God, this is what he does!” his former team-mate, friend and hype man Rio Ferdinand said from his Airbnb in LA. Scoring against a World Cup debutant, a team ranked 59th in the world and who couldn’t beat Oman less than a year ago.

Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored in six different World CupsPaul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images

The expanded World Cup is a game of inches. The gaps, in some cases, are bigger than usual. Kylian Mbappe could have had a hat-trick against Iraq, as could Erling Haaland. Iraq is another nation proudly making its inaugural appearance in this competition. The squad flew to the United States a place below Uzbekistan in the FIFA rankings. Haiti is even lower and has not played on its own soil for nearly five years — its qualification for the first time since 1974 is remarkable. Brazil was too much for them, and Vinicius Junior was involved in all three goals in a 3-0 win.

The expanded World Cup is a game of inches. The gaps, in some cases, are bigger than usual. Kylian Mbappe could have had a hat-trick against Iraq, as could Erling Haaland. Iraq is another nation proudly making its inaugural appearance in this competition. The squad flew to the United States a place below Uzbekistan in the FIFA rankings. Haiti is even lower and has not played on its own soil for nearly five years — its qualification for the first time since 1974 is remarkable. Brazil was too much for them, and Vinicius Junior was involved in all three goals in a 3-0 win.

None of these teams have rolled over. They have honoured the shirt and provided us with some of the stories of the World Cup. Heroes have been made out of goalkeepers from Cape Verde and Curacao. But if Vozinha and Eloy Room did so against Spain and Ecuador, it was because of the mismatch, the pressure they came under. DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi stood firm against Colombia for 75 minutes until Daniel Munoz’s deflected effort.

By the same token, if the stars came out to play last week and Ronaldo belatedly emerged from “a difficult, dark week” to take his place in the World Cup constellation, it’s because a 48-team tournament should allow for more stat-padding and flat-track bullying. Some also feel the Trionda ball is giving attackers an advantage. 

In the mixed zone after the Uzbekistan game, Ronaldo was asked about Lionel Messi. He dodged it. Next question. Perhaps because Messi’s five goals have come against teams ranked in the top 30.

Is England’s weakness actually its defence?

A lot was made of Harry Kane’s miss, the three touches he made in Ghana’s penalty area, how closely Thomas Partey man-marked him and England’s overall difficulty breaking down the low-block set up expertly by Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz. If the focus fell on the spluttering attack, what about the defence? A clean sheet was an improvement on Croatia, wasn’t it? “But you can never, never for one second open spaces for counter-attacks,” Thomas Tuchel insisted.

While Nico O’Reilly hit the woodwork, Kane hit a field goal instead of an actual goal and Marc Guehi had a header cleared off the line, Ghana looked sporadically and worryingly dangerous in the second half in Boston.

Harry Kane fires the ball over at Gillette StadiumReuters/Brian Snyder via Getty Images

Anthony Gordon let a ball drop, goal-side, to Marvin Senaya on the way into the England penalty area. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford later raced outside his box to confront Caleb Yirenkyi, one of those brave and foolish moments that could, on another day, have yielded a red card. To make matters more anxious, Ezri Konza then slid in on Prince Adu in the England penalty area without getting the ball.

Many expected the referee to point to then spot. The linesman seemed to raise his flag instead. It was a let-off. This vulnerability, borne out of England’s desire to commit men forward and break the deadlock after going 56 minutes without a shot on goal, should give Tuchel some preoccupation even if, in Pickford’s opinion, “the lads’ defending” in the latter stages was “top drawer”.

Croatia scored a couple of beauties against England, goals that are hard to defend. Except Jude Bellingham gave the ball away for Martin Baturina’s initial, ultimately futile equaliser. If recent World Cups have told us anything, you either need to play dull, Deschamps-style tournament ball, restricting opponents by making your own uber-talented team play with the utmost restraint, or you need your goalkeeper (Emiliano Martinez) to help win shoot-outs while Lionel Messi does the rest.

If England are to make good on their potential this tournament, Tuchel surely has to tighten them up a little.

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Are ‘joke’ VAR concerns serious?

Carlos Queiroz felt that the VAR “was on vacation” and “went for coffee” after two key incidents went against his Ghana team in the second half of its 0-0 draw with England.

First, he was upset about the aforementioned Pickford collision with Prince Adu. Queiroz said in his post-match press conference that it was a “clear shock” and that Pickford “should have been sent off, there is no doubt about that”.

Then, with just 12 minutes left, the Konsa incident was, in his opinion, a “clear penalty and red card”. The former England striker Wayne Rooney also said afterwards he believed this was a “penalty” and that Konsa took a “huge risk” as he “gets the man, not the ball”.

Should this have been a penalty for Ghana against England?Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images

Queiroz tried to make light of the situation afterwards with a series of jokes about the decision-making. “Is VAR still working in the World Cup?,” he asked. “Do we still have VAR? I have doubts about that.” He returned to the same theme afterwards, saying:  “The VAR referee was on vacation second half apparently”.

“Once again, the VAR went for coffee,” Queiroz continued afterwards. “I like to take my coffees once in a while! It’s a clear penalty and a red card (on Konsa). Do you have any doubts about that, or was it only me who was at the game?”

At the end of the press conference, Queiroz appeared to apologise for his repeated jokes about the officiating. “I am sorry for my sarcasm,” he said, “but if I say this kind of thing seriously, they punish me. So I am joking.”

He isn’t the only one to feel aggrieved. Algeria complained to FIFA after its 3-0 defeat by Argentina, believing Messi should have been sent off for a studs-up challenge on Captain Aissa Mandi’s calf and Achilles tendon. Messi stayed on and the rest is literally history, as he scored his first-ever World Cup hat-trick.

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