Foxborough, June 24 (IANS) Harry Captain Kane is confident England will top their FIFA World Cup 2026 group despite being held to a draw by Ghana and also gave credit to the opposition, who defended well throughout and made it tough for his team to find space in the final third.

England were unable to break down Ghana, whose excellent defensive display frustrated the European side. There were chances at both ends but ultimately no breakthrough.

The result ensures England and Ghana will enter the final matchday of Group L in the top two. A point from their final matches against Panama and Croatia, respectively, will secure a spot in the Round of 32.

“It was one of those games. A difficult team to break down. I think we had loads of possession and probably the last 15 minutes of each half was when we were at our best. They started to tire towards the end. We had some chances; I obviously had a big chance there and Nico O’Reilly hit the bar too.

“It could have easily been a game where we came away with the win. In the end, we didn’t concede too many chances, just a couple of counterattacks in the whole game. They’ve got some dangerous players and overall we controlled them pretty well. We wanted the win but we’ll take the point and we’re still in a great position in the group,” Kane was quoted by England Football.

After an impressive 4-2 opening win against Croatia and a clean sheet against Ghana, Kane remains positive that England are in pole position to top the group heading into the Round of 32.

“It was a game that we got better as we went along and we started getting the wingers one-vs-one and they were dangerous but you go through games like that,” he said. You’re playing in the World Cup against a decent side who were compact and made it difficult.

“We’re in a great position – we play Panama next. I spoke before about major tournaments, you chunk it up into two separate tournaments. First the group stage, making sure you make it through and hopefully we can finish with a win and finish top. Then comes the second tournament which is obviously the knockout stage. We’ve almost done part one, we recover now – it’s a quick turnaround, but we look forward to getting back out there in a few days,” he added.

–IANS

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